B>lo3/ to  - 

0  h 


MEMOIRS 


HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


PENNSYLVANIA, 


VOL.   I. 


BEING  A  REPUBLICATION. 

EDITED    BY 

EDWARD    ARMSTRONG, 

MEMBER  OF  THE  HISTORICAL   SOCIETY   OP  PENNSTLVANU. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED   BY  McCARTY  AND   DAVIS, 

No.  171  High  Stkebt. 
1826. 

PHILADELPHIA: 
J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  &  CO., 

FOR  THE 

mSTOKICAL  SOCIETY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 
1864. 


ADVERTISEMENT 


FIRST    EDITION. 


The  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania  commences  the 
publication  of  its  transactions  with  the  present  number, 
and  with  the  expectation  of  being  able  to  issue  a  work  of 
equal  size  every  six  months. 

From  the  miscellaneous  nature  of  the  subjects,  it  is 
obvious  that  an  adherence  to  chronological  order  would 
not  be  easy.  The  Society  does  not  undertake  to  compose 
a  history;  its  desire  is  to  collect  materials  for  history. 
Eemote  and  recent  periods  will,  therefore,  sometimes  be 
found  in  immediate  contact  or  anachronous  succession : 
the  transactious  of  the  seventeenth  century  may  follow 
those  of  the  nineteenth.  But,  although  historical  order 
is  impossible,  the  want  of  it,  it  is  hoped,  will  not  impair 
the  interest  which  such  collections  usually  excite ;  and  the 
variety  of  the  facts  may  compensate  for  the  irregularity 


of  the  arrangement. 


(V) 


Vi  ADVERTISEMENT. 

The  Circular  Letter  already  extensively  communicated 
is  included  in  the  present  publication ;  and  it  is  requested 
that  every  reader  will  consider  it  addressed  to  himself. 
On  a  general  compliance  with  the  wishes  expressed  in  it, 
the  Society  founds  its  hopes  of  permanence  and  useful- 
ness. 

With  the  second  half-volume  an  index  to  the  ^vhole 
will  be  given. 

Philadelphia,  December,  1825. 


EDITORIAL  NOTE. 


A  LIMITED  edition  of  the  first  volume  of  the  Memoirs, 
which  appeared  in  1826,  having  been  printed,  and  copies 
now  being  very  scarce,  the  trustees  hope  that  the  accom- 
panying republication  of  it  will  be  acceptable  to  the  sub- 
scribers. 

Notes  have  been  added  where  it  was  thought  by  the 
editor  desirable  to  illustrate  the  text. 

The  trustees,  in  the  course  of  the  year,  propose  to  print 
an  additional  volume,  containing  the  autobiography  and 
correspondence  of  Mr.  Peter  S.  Du  Ponceau,  the  late  Presi- 
dent of  the  Society;  to  which  a  brief  memoir  will  be  pre- 
fixed. 

m 

In  connection  with  this  intimation  they  desire  to  say 
that  they  will  feel  obliged  for  copies  of  any  letters  of 
Mr.  Du  Ponceau,  with  which  those  possessing  the  originals 
may  be  disposed  to  favor  them. 

The  publication  of  the  History  of  the  Town  of  Beth- 
lehem, and  which  the  trustees  believed  they  would  before 
this  have  been  able  to  present,  has  been  delayed  by  causes 
beyond  control.  The  volume  will  be  issued  as  soon  as 
practicable. 

Philadel1>hia,  July  20,  1864. 

(vii) 


THE 

HISTOEICAL  SOCIETY  OF  PENIN^SYLYANIA.* 


The  want  of  a  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania  haa 
been  felt  for  generations.  Although,  however,  various 
thoughtful  and  patriotic  individuals  have  taken  means  to 
preserve  records  of  the  Colony  and  State,  a  sufficient  com- 
bination was  not  formed  to  achieve  this  purpose  in  an 
effectual  manner  till  December  2,  1824 ;  which  point, 
therefore,  dates  as  the  origin  of  the  present  association. 

At  an  earlier  period,  and  during  the  colonial  condition 
of  the  settlement,  extensive  records  were  kept  by  more 
than  one  religious  body,  and  a  constant  intercourse  with 
England  kept  Pennsylvania  as  much  before  the  public 
mind  as  it  may  have  been  thought  to  deserve ;  while,  at 
an  after  moment,  the  writings  of  Voltaire  and  other 
imaginative  authors  may,  perhaps,  have  made  the  infant 
combination  so  noted  as  to  do  away  with  any  urgency  for 
a  history  so  obscure  and  remote.  The  Revolutionary  war 
involved  interests  on  a  larger  scale,  and  was  connected  by 
many  with  theoretical  views  of  the  rights  and  destinies 
of  the  human  race  at  large ;  and  the  quiet  settlement  in 

*  This  sketch  was  prepared  by  Dr.  Coates,  and  is  reprinted  from  a 
pamphlet  recently  published  by  the  Society. 

1  (i^) 


X  S  K  E  T  C  II    0  F 

a  vast  forest  became,  in  compaiison,  an  object  of  Ijut  little 
attention. 

When  the  war  was  over,  and  men  had  time  to  breathe 
from  the  involvement  of  great  interests  and  from  desperate 
struggles,  calmer  minds  soon  recollected  the  necessity  of 
more  adequate  means  for  the  preservation  of  records. 
Then  it  was  found  that  impediment  arose  from  the 
divergency  of  views  and  habits.  Impressions  remaining 
from  military  and  political  struggles,  and  existing  differ- 
ences of  religious  opinions  and  feelings,  were  hard  to 
reconcile  in  a  common  labor  until  the  period  we  have 
mentioned. 

The  names  of  the  members  present  at  the  inauguration 
meeting  were  Roberts  Vaux,  Stephen  Duncan,  Thomas  I. 
Wharton,  William  Rawle,  Jr.,  Dr.  Benjamin  H.  Coates, 
Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  and  George  Washington  Smith.  It  was 
well  understood  that  the  late  eminent  William  Eawle,  Jr., 
and  John  F.  Watson,  though  personally  absent,  were  to 
be  considered  as  present,  and  they  are  therefore  in  the 
category  of  foundation  members.  Several  other  gentlemen 
gave  their  attendance  at  the  preliminary  conferences,  and, 
it  is  believed,  at  some  of  the  regular  meetings,  the  minutes 
of  which  are  not  preserved.  At  the  first  annual  election, 
held  February  28,  1825,  the  Society,  which  had  hitherto 
appointed  Roberts  Vaux  as  Chairman,  filled  the  place  of 
President  with  the  late  William  Rawle,  Sr. ;  and  the  Vice 
Presidents  were  Roberts  Vaux  and  Thomas  Duncan,  the 
Corresponding  Secretary,  Daniel  B.  Smith,  and  the  Record- 
ing Secretary,  G.  Washington  Smith.  On  the  ISth  of 
May,  the  Council,  under  the   constitution,  held  its  first 


THE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY.  XI 

meeting.  In  this  body,  besides  the  names  already  given, 
we  find  those  of  Dr.  Thomas  C.  James,  "William  Rawle,  Jr., 
Thomas  H.  White,  Dr.  Samuel  Jackson  (Professor),  William 
Mason  Walmsley,  and  Gerard  Ralston. 

On  the  3d  of  October,  1825,  ten  committees  were 
appointed,  containing  many  names,  to  report,  with  delibe- 
ration, on  as  many  subdivisions  into  which  an  examination 
of  the  historical  records  of  Pennsylvania  were  supposed 
to  be  naturally  divided.  Some  of  these  committees  re- 
ported ;  but  a  larger  number  omitted  to  do  so,  although 
the  inquiries  thus  set  on  foot  gave  rise  to  some  subsequent 
papers. 

In  December,  1825,  the  publication  of  the  Memoirs  was 
commenced.  Most  of  these  were  newly  compiled  essays, 
with  some  orations,  all  intended  to  introduce  the  respective 
subjects ;  but  the  volumes  included  a  few  original  docu- 
ments. They  were  continued  till  1840,  in  four  volumes. 
In  1845-1848,  a  volume  was  issued  under  the  title  of 
"  Bulletin ;"  and,  after  the  formation  of  the  Publication 
Fund,  the  Memoirs  were  resumed,  with  an  enlarged  page 
and  in  a  finer  style,  by  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh  volumes, 
as  far  as  1860. 

Of  later  years,  with  the  growth  of  Philadelphia,  and 
by  the  exertions  of  active  and  influential  members,  the 
magnitude,  and,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  the  usefulness  of  the 
Historical  Societ}^,  have  been  greatly  increased.  Citizens 
at  large  have  taken  more  interest  in  its  advancement ;  its 
library  at  length  amounts  to  7000  volumes ;  and  a  hand- 
some collection  of  portraits  of  Governors  of  the  State  and 
of  other  distinguished  individuals,  with  several  landscape 


Xll  SKETCH    OF 

views  of  intercHting  localities,  hang  on  its  walls;  the 
number  of  vahiablc  relics  in  its  possession  is  augmented, 
and  is  still  growing;  funds  preserved  for  a  ])uilding,  for 
publication,  for  binding  the  books,  etc.,  now  in  total 
amount  exceed  nineteen  thousand  dollars;  and  very  liberal 
contributions  in  books,  and,  in  one  instance,  of  relics  that 
cannot  be  replaced,  has  been  received  from  the  Govern- 
ments of  the  United  States,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  Great 
Britain,  as  well  as  from  foreign  and  American  Societies, 
and  from  the  family  of  William  Penn.  Valuable  and 
important  legacies  are  promised  for  the  future. 

Still,  it  is  necessary  for  truth  and  for  the  objects  of  the 
Society  to  say  that  there  is,  and  for  a  long  coming  period 
can  be,  no  provision  for  the  increase  and  completion  of  its 
library,  other  than  in  the  liberality  of  its  friends;  and 
the  Society,  therefore,  is  yet  in  need  of  such  donations  as 
may  be  worthy  of  preservation,  and  may  correspond  with 
the  views  of  persons  who  value  and  wish  to  promote  these 
inquiries.  In  some  departments  of  American  history  the 
collection  is  as  yet  very  incomplete,  and  the  Executive 
Committee  have  it  at  present  in  view  to  take  measures  for 
extending  it,  so  that  the  student  may  find,  in  these  points, 
all  the  references  needed  for  his  researches.  For  the 
erection  of  a  fire-proof  hall,  too,  a  "Building  Fund"  has 
been  commenced,  for  which  twenty-five  hundred  dollars 
have  been  collected,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  obvious  need 
for  such  a  protection  may  induce  the  liberal  to  aid  in  the 
undertaking.  ^ 

The  Publication  Fund  was  commenced  in  1854,  and 
now  amounts  to  upwards  of  seventeen  thousand  dollars, 


THE    HISTORICAL     SOCIETY.  xiil 

held  in  trust  by  John  Jordan,  Jr.,  Oswald  Thompson,  and 
William  Strong. 

A  payment  of  twenty  dollars  obtains  the  right  to  receive, 
during  life,  a  copy  of  each  publication.  For  libraries  this 
pri^olege  continues  twenty  years. 

There  have  been  published  since  its  foundation : 

In  1856,  The  History  of  Braddock's  Expedition. 
In  1858,  Contributions  to  American  History. 
In  1860,  Record  of  Upland,  and  Denny's  Military 
Journal. 

There  is  in  preparation  for  publication  : 

The  History  of  the  Town  of  Bethlehem,  and  of  the 
Moravian  Settlements  in  Northeastern  Pennsyl- 
vania, from  original  sources,  in  large  octavo,  handsomely 
illustrated- 


IlISTOllICAL  SOCIETY  OF  PENNSYLYAINIA. 


OFFICERS   FOR  1864. 

PRESIDENT, 

JOSEPH    11.   INGERSOLL. 

VICE   PRESIDENTS, 

JOSHUA    FRANCIS    FISHER, 
GEORGE    CHAMBERS, 

OP  Chambersburg, 
BENJAMIN    H.    COATES, 
JOHN    WILLIAM    WALLACE. 

treasurer, 
CHARLES    M.   MORRIS. 

RECORDING   SECRETARY, 

SAMUEL    L.    SMEDLEY. 

CORRESPONDING    SECRETARY, 

HORATIO    G.   JONES. 

LIBRARIAN, 

SAMUEL    L.    TAYLOR. 

LIBRARY   COMMITTEE, 

JOHN    JORDAN,   Jr, 

JOHN  A.  McAllister, 

RICHARD    L.   NICHOLSON. 

PUBLICATION    COMMITTEE, 

WILLIAM    DUANE, 

REY.    DANIEL    WASHBURN, 

JAMES    R.    SNOWDEN. 

FINANCE   COMMITTEE, 

JOSEPH    CARSON, 
AUBREY    H.    SMITH, 
EDMUND    A.   SOUDER. 

(xiv) 


CONSTITUTION. 


Article  I — This  Association  shall  be  called  "The  Historical 
Society  of  Pennsylvania," — and  its  object  shall  be  the  elucidation  of 
the  history  of  this  State,  though  other  branches  of  history  shall  not 
be  excluded. 

Art.  II. —  The  Society  shall  be  composed  of  such  persons  as  have 
been,  or  may  be,  elected,  from  time  to  time,  according  to  its  laws  and 
regulations. 

Art.  III. — The  officers  of  the  Society  shall  be  annually  chosen,  by 
a  majority  of  ballots,  at  the  stated  meeting  in  February,  and  shall 
consist  of  a  President,  four  Vice  Presidents,  a  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary, a  Recording  Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  a  Librarian.  The 
candidates  for  all  offices  shall  be  nominated  at  the  stated  meeting  in 
January,  and  no  new  candidates  shall  be  nominated  at  the  stated 
meeting  in  February,  except  by  unanimous  consent. 

Art.  TV. — It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President,  or  in  his  absence, 
of  a  Vice  President,  to  preside  at  the  meetings  of  the  Society,  to 
preserve  order,  regulate  debates,  to  state  motions  and  questions,  and 
to  announce  the  decisions  thereupon.  If  neither  the  President  nor 
any  of  the  Vice  Presidents  be  present  at  a  meeting,  the  Society  may 
choose  a  member  to  act  as  President  at  that  meeting. 

Art.  Y.  —  The  Corresponding  Secretary  shall  conduct  and  have 
charge  of  the  correspondence  of  the  Society. 

(XV) 


Xvi  CONSTITUTION. 

Art.  VI.  —  The  Recording  Secretary  shall  keep  full  and  correct 
minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Society,  and  shall  have  thera 
transcribed  into  a  book  of  record.  lie  shall  give  due  notice  of  any 
special  meeting  that  may  be  called,  and  shall  notify  all  members  of 
their  election. 

Art.  VII.  —  The  Treasurer  shall  have  charge  of  the  moneys  and 
other  funds  belonging  to  the  Society.  He  shall  collect  the  contri- 
butions of  the  members  and  other  income  of  the  Society,  and  shall 
pay  such  claims  against  the  Society  as  shall  have  been  duly  examined 
and  ordered  to  be  paid.  He  shall  annually  present,  at  the  stated 
meeting  in  January,  a  statement  of  his  receipts  and  expenditures 
during  the  preceding  year,  with  a  full  report  on  the  financial  condition 
of  the  Society. 

Art.  VIII. —  The  Librarian  shall  have  charge  of  the  books,  manu- 
scripts, and  other  property  in  the  rooms  of  the  Society,  and  shall 
arrange  and  preserve  the  same  in  proper  and  convenient  order.  He 
shall  keep  an  arranged  catalogue  of  the  books  and  manuscripts,  and, 
where  these  have  been  presented,  shall  append  the  names  of  the 
donors.  His  compensation  shall  be  fixed  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, and  the  details  of  his  duties  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Library.  At  the  stated  meeting  in  January  he  shall 
annually  present  a  report  to  the  Society,  embracing  an  account  of 
his  administration  of  the  library,  and  of  its  condition  during  the 
preceding  year. 

Art.  IX. —  There  shall  be  the  following  Standing  Committees, 
each  to  be  composed  of  three  members  of  the  Society,  viz.:  1st,  Com- 
mittee on  the  Library ;  2d,  Committee  on  Publications ;  3d,  Com- 
mittee on  Finance.  The  members  thereof  shall  serve  for  the  term 
of  three  years ;  one  of  each  Committee  shall  be  elected  annually  at 
the  stated  meeting  of  the  Society  in  February.  Those  elected  in 
1862  shall  draw  lots  for  their  respective  terms  of  one,  two,  and  three 
years.  The  members  of  these  Committees,  together  with  the  other 
oflEicers  of  the  Society,  shall  form  an  Executive  Committee,  of  which 


CONSTITUTION.  XVU 

five  shall  constitute  a  quorum,  which  shall  meet  at  the  hall  on  the 
fourth  Monday  of  every  month.  Members  of  the  Society  have  the 
right  to  attend  the  meetings  of  every  Committee,  to  introduce 
motions,  and  to  speak  thereon,  and  to  vote  at  any  election  for  mem- 
bers of  the  Society.  In  order  that  the  meetings  of  the  Society  shall 
be  free  for  the  reading  of  papers  or  for  discussions  on  historical  and 
literary  subjects,  the  business  of  the  Society  shall  be  transacted  by 
the  Executive  Committee,  any  member  of  which,  however,  shall  have 
the  right  to  call  for  the  ayes  and  nays  on  any  question  to  be  entered 
on  the  minutes,  and  to  bring  the  same,  by  appeal,  before  the  Society ; 
in  which  case  the  list  of  ayes  and  nays,  together  with  the  notice  of 
the  appeal,  shall  form  a  part  of  the  record,  and  be  laid  before  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Society. 

Art.  X. — Vacancies  which  may  occur  in  any  of  the  above-named 
offices  shall  be  filled  by  an  election  at  the  next  stated  meeting  after 
such  vacancy  shall  have  been  announced  to  the  Society. 

Art.  XI. —  The  Society  shall  hold  stated  meetings  on  the  second 
Monday  evening  of  every  month.  Special  meetings  may  be  called 
by  the  President  or  one  of  the  Vice  Presidents,  by  giving  at  least 
three  days'  notice  thereof  in  not  less  than  two  of  the  daily  news- 
papers published  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  The  members  present 
at  any  meeting  shall  constitute  a  quorum. 

Art.  XII. — No  alteration  shall  be  made  in  this  Constitution  unless 
the  proposed  amendments  shall  have  been  drawn  up  in  writing,  and 
read  to  the  Society  at  three  successive  monthly  stated  meetings.  Nor 
shall  any  such  amendment  be  considered  as  adopted  unless  sanctioned 
by  the  votes  of  three-fourths  of  the  members  present  at  the  meeting 
when  the  question  shall  be  taken  upon  its  adoption. 

LAWS. 

Article  I. —  The  election  of  members  shall  be  by  ballot,  at  any 
stated  meeting  of  the  Society  or  of  the  Executive  Committee.  Those 
members  shall  be  deemed  qualified  voters  at  the  meetings  and  elections 


XVlll  CONSTITUTION. 

who  have  paid  their  dues  to  the  Society.  A  member  may  at  any 
meeting  nominate,  in  writing,  a  candidate  for  membership,  and  if  the 
said  candidate  shall  receive  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast,  he  shall  be 
deemed  duly  elected.  On  request  of  three  members,  the  balloting 
on  any  candidate  shall  be  postponed  to  the  next  stated  meeting.  A 
viva  voce  vote  on  the  election  of  a  member  may  be  taken,  if  so 
ordered.  The  balloting  being  gone  through,  the  boxes  shall  be  opened, 
and  the  result  of  the  poll  declared  by  the  presiding  officer.  The 
written  nominations  of  the  members  elected  shall  be  preserved  by  the 
Secretary  for  future  reference. 

Art.  II. —  Such  members  as  reside  within  the  city  of  Philadelphia 
shall  pay  an  annual  contribution  of  three  dollars.  The  payment  of 
twenty  dollars  at  one  time,  by  a  member,  shall  constitute  him  a  mem- 
ber for  life,  with  an  exemption  from  all  future  annual  payments.  Any 
member  liable  to  an  annual  contribution,  who  shall  neglect  or  refuse 
to  pay  the  same  for  the  term  of  two  years,  may,  by  the  action  of  the 
Executive  ComAittee,  have  his  rights  as  a  member  suspended,  and 
in  case  the  said  arrears  are  not  paid  when  the  third  annual  contri- 
bution shall  have  become  due,  the  membership  of  such  defaulting 
member  may  then  be  forfeited,  and  his  name  stricken  from  the  roll. 

Art.  III. — On  the  Society  being  informed  of  the  death  of  a  mem- 
ber, the  fact  shall  be  entered  on  the  records,  and  a  member  may  be 
appointed  to  prepare  an  obituary  notice  of  the  deceased.  The  obit- 
uary notices  of  members  shall  be  read  to  the  Society,  and  they  shall 
be  bound  together  whenever  they  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  form 
a  volume. 

Art.  IV. — The  Committee  of  Finance  shall  have  the  general  super- 
intendence of  the  financial  concerns  of  the  Society ;  they  shall  audit 
and  certify  all  bills  for  payment  by  the  Treasurer ;  they  shall  always 
have  access  to  his  books,  accounts,  and  vouchers,  and  shall  examine 
and  audit  his  annual  report,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
special  funds  of  the  Society.  They  shall  consult  with  the  Treasurer, 
and  authorize  and  direct  the  investment  of  surplus  funds. 


CONSTITUTION.  XIX 

Art.  V.  —  The  Committee  of  Publication  shall  superintend  the 
printing  and  distribution  of  such  publications  as  may  be  ordered  to 
be  made  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Publication  Fund.  They  shall  have 
power  to  call  on  the  Librarian  for  his  assistance  in  the  performance 
of  their  duties. 

Art.  YI. —  The  Committee  on  the  Library  shall  confer  with  and 
direct  the  Librarian  in  the  general  care  and  management  of  the 
library,  and  shall  control  the  disbursement  of  such  appropriations  as 
may  be  made  by  the  Society  for  its  increase  and  maintenance,  as  well 
as  in  the  disposition  and  arrangement  of  the  books,  maps,  documents, 
and  paintings  belonging  to  the  Society. 

Art.  VII.  —  All  special  Committees  shall  be  chosen  on  nomi- 
nations made  by  members  present,  unless  the  Society  shall  otherwise 
direct.  The  member  first  named  of  any  committee  shall  be  the 
chairman. 

Art.  YIII. —  A  majority  of  any  committee  shall  be  a  quorum. 
Special  committees  shall  report  at  the  meeting  next  after  that  at 
which  they  were  appointed,  unless  otherwise  ordered  by  the  Society. 
All  reports  shall  be  in  writing,  and  signed  by  the  members  agreeing 
thereto. 

Art,  IX. — The  Librarian  shall  attend  at  the  library  at  such  hours 
as  the  Executive  Committee  shall,  from  time  to  time,  direct ;  and  the 
rooms  shall  be  opened  on  every  Monday  evening,  between  the  hours 
of  8  and  10,  except  during  June,  July,  and  August. 

Art.  X. — No  alteration  or  amendment  of  the  laws  and  regulations 
of  the  Society  shall  be  made  or  considered,  unless  the  same  shall 
have  been  duly  proposed  and  fairly  drawn  up  in  writing  at  one  stated 
meeting  of  the  Society,  and  laid  over  for  consideration  and  enactment 
at  the  next  stated  meeting ;  nor  shall  any  such  alteration,  amendment, 
or  regulation  be  considered  as  passed  or  binding  upon  the  members, 
unless  the  same  be  sanctioned  by  the  vote  of  three-fourths  of  the 
number  of  qualified  members  then  present. 


XX  CONSTITUTION. 

Art.  XI. —  The  laws  and  regulations  contained  in  the  foregoing 
articles  shall  be  in  force  from  and  after  the  time  of  their  adoption  by 
the  Society,  and  thereafter  all  other  laws  and  regulations  heretofore 
made  by  the  Society,  and  not  contained  in  its  Constitution,  shall  be, 
and  the  same  are  hereby  repealed. 


ORDER   OF   BUSINESS. 

I.  The  chair  taken  by  the  presiding  officer. 
II.  New  members  presented,  and  visitors  from  other  Societies 
introduced. 

III.  Records  read  of  last  meeting,  and  of  any  subsequent  special 

meeting. 

IV.  Correspondence  read. 

V.  Donations  and  other  additions  announced: 
a.  To  the  Library. 
h.  Other  donations  or  additions. 
VI.  Reports  and  communications  on  historical  and  literary  sub- 
jects. 
VII.  Obituary  notices  of  members  read,  and  announcements  of 
the  decease  of  members  made  and  acted  on. 
VIII.  Balloting  for  candidates  for  membership. 
IX.  Reports  on  business  from  officers  and  committees. 
X.  Deferred  business. 
XI.  New  business. 

XII.  Minutes  of  the  meeting  read  and  submitted  for  correction. 
XIII.  The  Society  adjourned  by  the  presiding  officer. 


CONSTITUTION 


HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


PREAMBLE. 

To  collect  and  preserve  the  evidences  of  its  own 
history  from  the  earliest  date,  is  both  the  duty  and 
interest  of  every  political  society,  whether  its  progress 
has  been  j)rosperous  or  disastrous ;  and  to  ascertain  and 
develop  the  natural  resources  of  a  State,  to  investigate 
its  climate,  soil,  progress  of  population,  and  other  statis- 
tical points,  are  objects  equally  worthy  of  attention,  and 
which  demand  and  deserve  the  united  efforts  of  all  who 
are  desirous  to  honor  the  character  and  advance  the  pros- 
perity of  their  commonwealth. 

Impressed  with  these  considerations,  desirous  of  repair- 
ing as  far  as  possible  the  injuries  which  the  early  history 
of  Pennsylvania  has  sustained  by  reason  of  the  inatten- 
tion of  our  predecessors,  and  believing  that  there  is  much 
to  interest  and  something  to  instruct  in  the  transactions 
of  those  days,  when  an  honest,  virtuous,  and  pious  people, 
relinquishing  their  early  possessions  and  enjoyments,  laid, 

(13) 


14  CONSTITUTION. 

in  a  wild  and  uncultivated  country,  the  foundations  of  a 
State,  now  eminently  great,  successful,  and  happy,  we, 
whose  names  arc  hereunto  subjoined,  have  united  our- 
selves into  a  Society,  for  the  purpose  of  elucidating  the 
civil,  literary,  and  natural  history  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
have  adopted  for  our  government  the  following 

CONSTITUTION/^ 

Article  I. — This  Association  shall  be  denominated 
"  The  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania." 

Article  II. — The  object  of  the  Society  shall  be  the 
elucidation  of  the  natural,  civil,  and  Uterary  history  of 
this  State. 

Article  III. — The  Society  shall  be  composed  of — 1st. 
Contributing  members. — 2d.  Corresponding  members. — 
3d.  Honorary  members. 

The  first  class  shall  consist  of  persons  residing  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia,  or  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  within 
ten  miles  of  the  city. 

The  second  class,  of  persons  residing  in  any  other  part 
of  Pennsylvania. 

The  tJiird  class,  of  persons  residmg  in  anj^  part  of 
America  or  elsewhere,  and  females  may  be  admitted  into 
it.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  in  the  first  or  second 
class,  unless  he  be  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  or  shall 
have  been  domiciliated  there  for  the  space  of  ten  years. 

Article  IV. — The  officers  of  the  society,  who  shall  be 

*  This  Constitution  has  been  materiallj  altered  since  the  date  of 
its  adoption. — Editor. 


CONSTITUTION.  15 

annually  chosen,  shall  be  a  President,  four  Vice-Presi- 
dents, two  of  whom  shall  be  inhabitants  of  the  city  or 
county  of  Philadelphia,  a  Treasurer,  a  Corresponding 
Secretary,  a  Recording  Secretary,  and  a  Curator. 

Article  Y. — There  shall  also  be  annually  elected  a 
Council,  to  consist  of  thirteen  members,  besides  the  above 
named  officers,  who  shall  be  ex  officio  members  of  the 
Council.  Seven  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum.  It 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Council  to  receive  donations 
made  to  the  Society,  and  to  take  suitable  care  of  the 
books,  and  other  property,  to  superintend  the  correspon- 
dence of  the  Society,  to  digest  and  prepare  business,  and 
to  execute  such  other  duties,  as  may  from  time  to  time 
be  committed  to  them  by  the  Society.  They  shall  have 
power  to  make  rules  for  their  own  government  in  their 
meetings.  They  shall  meet  at  least  once  a  month,  and 
may  adjourn  to  shorter  periods.  At  every  quarterly 
meeting  of  the  Society,  they  shall  make  a  report  of  the 
acquisitions  and  transactions  of  the  preceding  quarter. 
At  the  meetings  of  the  Council,  the  contributing  members 
shall  be  at  liberty  to  attend,  and  may  propose  any 
matters  for  consideration,  but  shall  not  be  entitled  to 
vote.  The  Council  may  be  specially  convened  at  any 
time  by  the  President,  or  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents. 

Article  VI. — The  Society  shall  meet  quarterly,  to 
wit,  on  the  first  Monday  of  February,  May,  August,  and 
November ;  but  the  President,  or,  in  his  absence,  either 
of  the  Vice-Presidents,  may  call  a  special  meeting,  on 
giving  three  days'  notice  thereof,  in  at  least  two  of  the 
daily  newspapers  pubhshed  in  Philadelphia.     The  elec- 


16  CONSTITUTION. 

tion  of  Officers,  and  of  the  Council,  shall  take  place  at  the 
quarterly  meeting  in  February,  and  shall  be  decided  by  a 
majority  of  ballots.  The  Society  may  adjourn  from  time 
to  time.  An  annual  discourse  shall  be  delivered  by  one 
of  the  members,  who  shall  be  appointed  for  that  purpose 
by  the  Council;  and  dissertations,  connected  Avith  the 
general  objects  of  the  Society,  may  be  read  by  any  of  the 
members,  at  any  of  its  meetings.  When  the  annual  dis- 
course is  delivered,  strangers  may  be  admitted.  The 
Society  may,  from  time  to  time,  appoint  special  com- 
mittees, for  the  purpose  of  investigating  particular  sub- 
jects, who  shall  report  to  the  Council,  which  latter  shall 
select  such  parts  thereof  as  they  may  deem  expedient  to 
lay  before  the  Society. 

Article  VII. — The  Council  shall  have  power  to  elect 
contributing,  corresponding,  and  honorary  members  of 
the  Society ;  but  all  such  elections  shall  be  by  ballot,  and 
three  negative  votes  shall  prevent  the  election  of  any 
candidate. 

Article  VIII. — This  Constitution  may  be  amended  at 
any  quarterly  meeting  of  the  Society,  provided  that  a 
notice  of  the  intended  amendment  shall  have  been  given, 
and  entered  on  the  journals  of  the  Society  at  a  preceding 
quarterly  meeting. 


OEFICEES 


HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


*William  Rawle,  President. 

*Roberts  Vaux,  Vice-President. 

*Thoinas  Duncan,  do. 

*John  Bannister  Gibson  {Carlisle),  do. 

*  James  Ross  [Piiisburg),  do. 

*  Joseph  Hopkinson,         Corresponding  Secretary. 
*Thomas  M'Kean  Pettit,  Recording  do. 
*William  Mason  Walmsley,                     Treasurer. 

Gerard  Ralston,  Curator. 

Members  who,  with  the  above  Officers,  constitute  the  Council. 

*Thomas  C.  James,  ^William  Rawle,  Jr., 

*  Joseph  Reed,  Benjamin  H.  Coates, 
*Thomas  H.  White,  ^Joseph  Parker  Norris, 
*Thomas  I.  Wharton,  ^Charles  Jared  IngersoU, 
^Stephen  Duncan,  *Edward  Bettle, 
*Daniel  B.  Smith,  George  Wn.  Smith. 

Samuel  Jackson, 

*  Dead,  1864. 
2  (17) 


18  OFFICERS     OF     THE 


STANDING  COxMMITTEES. 

1.  On   the  national  origin,  early  difficulties,   and  do- 
mestic habits  of  the  first  settlers. 

*Joseph  P.  Norris,  *Jacob  S.  Wahi, 

^Nicholas  Collin,  *Thomas  H.  White, 

'^Roberts  Vaux,  Charles  Yarnall, 

Daniel  B.  Smith,  Reynell  Coates, 

*Zaccheus  Collins,  *John  Singer, 

*Thomas  F.  Gordon,  *John  F.  Watson. 

2.  On  the  biography  of  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania, 
his  family,  and  the  early  settlers. 

^Roberts  Vaux,  *Edward  Penington, 
*Samuel  R.  Wood,  Elhs  Yarnall, 

*Algernon  S.  Logan,         WilKam  Maule, 

Elwood  Walter,  *John  Poulson. 

Charles  Lukens, 

3.  On   biographical    notices   of   persons   distinguished 
among  us  in  ancient  and  modern  times. 

*William  Rawle,  ^William  Smith, 

^Roberts  Vaux,  George  W.  Toland, 
*Joseph  Sansom,  Samuel  Morton, 

^Clements  S.  Miller,         Thomas  Evans. 

4.  On  the  Aborigines  of  Pennsjdvania,  their  numbers, 


HISTORICAL     SOCIETY.  19 

names  of  their  tribes,  intercourse  with  Europeans,  their 
language,  habits,  characters,  and  wars. 

*Peter  S.  Duponceau,  James  J.  Barclay, 
Benjamin  H.  Coates,       Charles  W.  Thompson, 
*Thomas  M.  Pettit,  Isaac  Norris, 

*Joseph  Roberts,  T.  Pennant  Barton, 

Henry  J.  Williams,  *Wilham  H.  Keating. 

5.  On  the  principles  to  which  the  rapid  population  of 
Pennsylvania  may  be  ascribed. 

*Charles  J.  IngersoU,  *James  N.  Barker, 
George  M.  Dallas,  George  Randolph, 

Thomas  A.  Budd,  *James  C.  Biddle. 

*WiUiam  B.  Davidson, 

6.  On  the  revenues,  expenses,  and  general  polity  of 
the  provincial  government. 

*John  Sergeant,  *Samuel  B.  Morris, 

*Benjamin  R.  Morgan,  William  M.  Meredith, 

Joseph  R.  IngersoU,  *Wilham  S.  Warder. 
*Clement  C.  Biddle, 

7.  On  the  Juridical  History  of  Pennsylvania. 

*William  Tilghman,  *John  Purdon, 

*Thomas  Duncan,  ''^Thomas  Bradford,  Jr., 

*Joseph  Reed,  *Edward  D.  Ingraham, 

*William  Rawle,  Jr.,  David  Paul  Brown. 


20  0  F  r  1  C  E  K  S     0  F     THE 

8.  On  the  Literury  History  of  Pcimsylvaiiia. 

*Joseph  Ilopkinson,  '==Thomas  I.  Wharton, 

^Robert  Walsh,  Jr.,  *Ed\vard  Bettle, 

George  W.  Smith,  John  M.  Read, 

Gerard  Ralston,  *John  Vaughan. 

9.  On  the  Medical  History  of  Pennsylvania. 

*Thomas  C.  James,  Caspar  Wistar, 

Samuel  Jackson,  Caspar  Morris, 

J.  Rhea  Barton,  *Isaac  Snowden. 
Benjamin  Ellis, 

10.  On  the  progress  and  present  state  of  Agriculture, 
Manufactures,  and  Commerce,  in  Pennsylvania. 

*Nicholas  Biddle,  C.  M.  Pennock, 

*Stephen  Duncan,  ^Reuben  Haines, 

*William  M.  Walmsley,   Charles  A.  Poulson, 
*Thomas  Biddle,  George  Stewardson, 

*John  Hare  Powell,         ^^Roberts  Vaux, 
*Samuel  Wetherill,  *Samuel  Breck. 


niSTORICALSOCIETY.  21 


HONORARY  MEMBERS. 

*John  Penn,  England. 

*Granville  Penn,  do. 

*Richard  Penn,  do. 

^Robert  Barclay,  do. 

'•'Thomas  Clarkson,       do. 

*David  Baillie  Warden,  Paris. 

*Henry  Clay,  Secretary  of  State,  Washington. 

*Richard  Rush,  Secretary  of  Treasury,  Washington. 

^Anthony  Morris,  do. 

^Edward  Livingston,  New  Orleans. 

CORRESPONDING  MEMBERS. 

*John  Andrew  Shulze,  Governor  of  Pennsylcania. 
*Molton  C.  Rogers,  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth. 
'•'John  Bannister  Gibson,  Carlisle. 
'••'James  Ross,  Pittsburg. 

William  Wilkins,         do. 
'^Richard  Biddle,  do. 

T.  B.  Dallas,  do. 

David  Scott,  Wilkesharre. 
'^'Redmond  Conyngham,  Luzerne  County. 
'^'Walter  Franklin,  Lancaster. 
'^William  Darlington,  West  Chester. 

Parker  Campbell,  Washington,  Pa. 
*Thomas  B.  M'Elwee,  Bedford. 


22  UISTOIUCAL     SOCIETY. 

Francis  W.  Rawle,  Clearfield  County. 

John  Young,  Greenshurg. 
*James  Dunlop,  Chamhershurg. 

Joseph  J.  Lewis,  Chester  County. 
*David  C.  Claypoole,  BucJcs  Comity 

Erskine  Hazard,  Mauch  Chunk. 


CIRCULAE. 


Philadelphia,  June  21,  1825. 

Sir  : — A  number  of  persons,  feeling  an  interest  in  the 
collection  and  preservation  of  whatever  may  conduce  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  History  of  Pennsylvania,  have 
formed  a  Society  under  the  title  of  "The  Historical 
Society  of  Pennsylvania." 

Their  objects  are  to  trace  all  the  circumstances  of  its 
early  settlement — its  successful  progress  and  its  present 
state; — to  collect  all  the  documents  and  written  or 
printed  evidence,  and  all  the  traditionary  information 
that  may  still  be  attainable ;  and,  after  having  thus 
acquired  possession  of  sufficient  materials,  it  will  be  the 
office  of  one  or  more  committees  to  select  what  may  be 
deemed  generally  interesting  and  instructive,  to  method- 
ize and  arrange  it,  and  to  lay  it  in  a  proper  form  before 
the  public. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  more  copious  these  collections 
are,  the  greater  will  be  the  means  of  a  judicious  and 
satisfactory  selection,  and  it  is  therefore  the  ardent  hope 
of  the  Society,  that  persons  in  possession  of  documents 
of  the  nature  described  in  the  following  list,  will  feel  a 

(23) 


24  C  I  R  C  U  L  A  R. 

common,  it  muy  be  said  a  })atri<)tic,  interest  in  contri- 
buting to  tlie  general  pui-pose,  ])y  favoring  the  .Society, 
either  as  donations  or  loans,  with  any  works  of  the 
following  description,  viz. : 

Original  letters,  books,  journals  or  narratives  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Pennsylvania,  or  of  any  distinguished 
persons  among  us  in  later  times.  Narratives  relative  to 
the  Indians  j  wars  or  treaties  with  them ;  and  the  general 
intercourse  between  them  and  Europeans,  or  among  the 
Indians  themselves.  Vocabularies  or  other  indications 
of  their  language.  Accounts  of  missionaries,  public 
messengers,  and  travellers  among  them. 

Any  facts  or  reasoning  that  mny  throw  light  on  the 
doubtful  question  of  the  origin  of  the  North  American 
Indians. 

Copies  of  records,  and  proceedings  of  any  public  bodies, 
of  a  political,  religious,  literary,  or  other  character,  that 
have  at  any  time  existed  among  us. 

Accounts  of  universities,  colleges,  academies,  and 
schools,  their  origin  and  progress. 

Topographical  descriptions  of  cities,  towns,  boroughs, 
counties,  or  townships. 

Accounts  of  the  population,  births,  longevity,  deaths, 
endemial  or  local  diseases  —  facts  relative  to  climate, 
meteorological  remarks,  general  employment  or  peculiar 
customs  of  each  district. 

Biographical  notices  of  any  eminent  persons,  or  of  any 
persons  in  respect  to  whom  remarkable  events  may  have 
happened. 

As  it  is  the  intention  of  the  Society  to  form  an  ample 


CIRCULAE.  ~0 

library  and  cabinet,  it  will  gratefully  receive  all  dona- 
tions of  books,  pamphlets,  or  manuscripts,  on  any 
subject  or  of  any  date;  medals,  coins,  or  any  other 
article  deriving  value  from  historical  or  biographical 
affinities :  Indian  idols,  ornaments,  arms,  or  utensils,  etc. 

The  name  of  the  donor  will  be  noted  in  the  library 
or  the  cabinet,  and  in  the  journals. 

Be  pleased  to  address  your  communications  to  Joseph 
HoPKiNSON,  Corresponding  Secretary,  or  Gerard  Ealston, 
Curator  of  the  Societv, 


By  order, 


Joseph  Hopkinson, 

Secretary. 


AVILLIAM  RAWLE, 

President. 


At  a  meeting  of  "  The  Historical  Society  of  Penn- 
sylvania," held  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  7th  day  of 
November,  1825,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Society  be  presented 
to  the  President,  for  his  learned  and  instructive  discourse, 
pronounced  on  the  5th  instant ;  and  that  he  be  requested 
to  furnish  a  copy  for  publication. 
From  the  Minutes. 

T.  M.  Pettit, 

Secretary. 


(27) 


AN 


INAUGURAL  DISCOURSE, 


DELIVERED    ON    THE 


5th  of  November,  1825, 


BEFORE    THE 


HISTOllICAL   SOCIETY   OF   PENNSYLVANIA, 

BY  WILLIAM  EAWLE,  Esq., 


PRESIDENT   OF   THE    SOCIETY. 


(29) 


INAUGURAL  DISCOURSE. 


Gentlemen  : 

The  intention  to  form  this  Society  was  unknoAvn  to 
me,  till  your  partiahty  led  you  to  request  me  to  under- 
take the  office  of  President  f  and,  however  unquahfied,  I 
have  not  hesitated  to  accept  it.  I  have  been  led  to  this 
conclusion  partly  from  the  respect  I  felt  for  those  who 
honored  me  by  the  selection,  and  partly  because  I  have 
long  wished  to  see  an  institution  of  this  sort  established 
amono;  us. 


*  William  Rawle  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  28th  of  April,  1T59, 
About  1118,  he  commenced  the  study  of  the  law  in  Xew  York,  under 
Mr.  Kemp,  where  he  remained  until  June,  1181,  when  he  embarked 
for  England ;  and,  in  August  of  that  year,  entered  himself  a  student 
in  the  Middle  Temple.  Having  left  England  in  the  beginning  of 
1782,  he  proceeded  to  France,  in  which  country  he  remained  until 
November;  and,  in  Jannary,  1783,  returned  to  his  native  city,  and 
resumed  his  legal  studies;  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  on  the  15th  of 
September,  1783.  He  was  elected,  in  October,  1789,  a  member  of 
Assembly  for  Philadelphia;  and,  in  1791,  received  at  the  hands  of 
Washington,  the  appointment  of  Attorney  of  the  United  States  for 
the  District  of  Pennsylvania,  which  he  resigned  in  May,  1800.  In 
1792,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Society  "for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
moting the  Abolition  of  Slavery,  for  the  relief  of  Free  Negroes  unlaw- 
fully held  in  bondage,  and  for  improving  the  condition  of  the  African 

(31) 


32  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

Upwards  of  one  hundred  and  forty  years  have  ehipsed 
smce  the  peaceful  companions  of  William  Ptnn  lauded 
on  the  shores  of  the  Delaware*' 

E.ace,"  of  which,  on  the  death  of  Doctor  Wistar,  he  was,  in  1818, 
elected  President.  In  1805,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Apricul- 
tural  Society,  before  which  he  delivered  an  address,  which  was  pub- 
lished. In  1822,  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Jared  Ingersoll,  he  was  made 
Chancellor  of  the  Associated  Members  of  the  IJar,  before  whom,  on 
different  occasions,  he  delivered  two  addresses,  which  have  also 
been  published.  His  "  View  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,"  which  appeared  in  182,5,  was  received  with  much  favor, 
and  adopted  as  a  text-book  in  several  of  our  literary  institutions. 
In  the  same  year,  Mr.  Kawle  took  an  active  part  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  and  its  Memoirs 
contain  valuable  contributions  from  his  pen.  In  1830,  Mr.  Rawle 
was  associated  with  INfcssrs.  T.  I.  Wharton  and  Joel  Jones,  as  Com- 
missioners "to  revise,  collate,  and  digest  all  such  public  acts 
and  statutes  of  the  Civil  Code  of  this  State,  and  all  such  British 
statutes  in  force  in  this  State  as  are  general  and  permanent 
in  their  nature,"  and  to  report  alterations  and  improvements  re- 
quired therein,  in  which  capacity  his  learning  and  enlarged  expe- 
rience proved  ^f  great  value  to  his  colleagues.  He  died  on  the  12th 
of  April,  183G.  In  the  language  of  Mr.  Wharton,  to  whose  interest- 
ing Memoir,  printed  in  the  fourth  volume  of  the  Society's  Transac- 
tions, we  are  indebted  for  the  above  facts,  "  Mr.  Ilawle  was  an 
accomplished  jurist,  a  good  scholar,  and  a  person  of  great  taste  and 
great  general  acquirements.  His  reading  in  early  life  had  been 
extensive ;  and  he  brought  to  his  professional  studies  a  discrim- 
inating and  healthy  mind,  which  enabled  him  to  make  the  best  use 
of  what  he  read.  His  learning  was  not  confined  to  the  jurisprudence 
of  England  and  America,  but  extended  much  deeper  into  that  of  the 
ancient  and  modern  laws  of  the  continent  of  Europe  than  was  usual 
in  the  last  century.  His  professional  business  for  the  twenty  years 
between  about  1193  and  1813  was  very  great,  and  his  income  large. 
His  name  appears  on  most  of  the  important  causes  of  that  period,  and 
his  arguments  always  commanded  the  attention  and  respect  of  the 
Court.     His  address  to  a  jury  was  complete  in  diction,  always  free 

*  See  Editor's  note  "  I,"  in  the  Appendix,  at  the  end  of  volume. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  33 

Except  their  friend  and  guide,  they  numbered  no 
distinguished  character  among  them ;  they  were  annoyed 
by  no  candidate  for  superior  rank,  no  emblazoned  warrior, 
or  lofty  member  of  a  proud  aristocracy :  they  were  humble 
men  of  moderate  fortunes — most  of  them  adherents  to  a 
sect  of  recent  origin  whose  motto  was  meekness  and 
benevolence. 

Their  departure  from  their  native  lands  was  unre- 
strained and  almost  unnoticed.  In  quietness  they 
embarked,  and  in  quietness  they  landed.  Here  they 
encountered  no  embittered  foe ;  they  met  no  herds  of 
indignant  natives  thronging  to  resist  them,  for  the 
natives  were  already  partially  acquainted  with  EngHsh- 
men,  and  with  this  particular  description  of  Enghshmen. 

from  unnecessary  ornament,  but  earnest  and  impressive.  I  have 
already  said  that  his  deportment  was  conciliatory  to  his  adversaries, 
and  I  believe  that  it  may  be  said  with  truth  that  he  never  made  an 
enemy  at  the  Bar. 

"  His  classical  knowledge  was  more  extensive  and  accurate  than 
that  of  most  men  in  this  country,  not  scholars  by  profession.  He 
read  a  great  deal,  and  to  a  late  period  of  his  life,  in  the  Roman 
authors.  Many  of  his  editions  belonged  to  his  grandfather,  William 
Rawle.  With  the  Greek  writers  he  was  not  so  familiar,  though  he 
made  the  Greek  Testament  a  frequent  study.  He  was  fond  of 
poetry ;  and,  at  one  period  of  his  life,  wrote  a  great  deal  of  it  and 
very  agreeably.  I  have  mentioned  in  another  place  that  he  drew 
and  painted  well.  I  have  seen  sketches  of  his  that  would  do  credit 
to  artists  of  reputation."  Mr.  Wharton  adds,  that  "he  was  a  sincere 
believer  in  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion."  *  *  * 
"In  the  latest  years  of  his  life,  it  occupied  a  large  portion  of  his 
thoughts.  As  the  shadows  of  evening  gathered  around  him,  he 
seemed  desirous  to  close  the  shutters  upon  all  mere  human  specula- 
tion ;  and  enlightened  and  warmed  by  the  faith  of  the  Gospel,  to 
commune  with  his  own  heart,  and  prepare  himself  for  the  great  event 
that  was  drawing  nigh.  This  is  not  the  time  for  the  publication  of- 
3 


34  I  N  A  U  G  U  R  A  I>     DISCOURSE. 

Several  years  before  the  daio  of  William  Penn's  charter, 
the  society  of  Friends  had  begun  to  settle  in  New  Jersey. 
They  had  fixed  themselves  at  Salem  and  at  Barluigton, 
and  the  vessels  which  l^roiight  out  additions  to  their 
numbers  had  occasionally  stopped  at  New  Castle,  and  at 
SJiackamaxon,  now  Kensington.  Many  Swedish  settle- 
ments between  these  points,  including  Chester  and 
Tinicum,  had  already  proved  the  tractable  dispositi(jn 
of  the  natives,  and  all  was  harmony  and  peace  between 
them. 

The  admirer  of  pomp  and  worldly  rank,  the  lover  of 
lofty  deeds  in  arms,  the  ardent  inquirer  after  stupendous 
adventure  and  miraculous  preservations,  wdll  therefore 
find  little  gratification  in  tracing  the  simple  progress  of 
our  early  history.     It  is  a  plain  and  humble  tale. 

The  first  colonists  were  invited  in  Europe  by  William 


any  of  his  devotional  writings  or  speculative  opinions.  Hereafter, 
possibly,  tbey  may  see  the  light.  I  will  only  add,  that  by  birth  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  Mr.  Kawle  never  ceased  to  enter- 
tain the  highest  respect  for  that  excellent  body,  and  generally 
attended  their  place  of  worship  when  his  health  permitted,  although 
he  differed  from  them  in  some  points  of  opinion  respecting  language 
and  attire.  Mr.  Rawle's  religion,  as  I  have  intimated,  was  not 
abstract  or  inanimate  speculation.  It  governed  and  influenced  his 
whole  life.  It  controlled  and  tempered  him  during  many  years  of 
prosperity,  and  sustained  and  comforted  him  in  later  days  of  distress 
and  misfortune." 

Mr.  Rawle,  more  than  perhaps  any  of  his  predecessors  at  the 
Philadelphia  Bar,  thoroughly  united  the  learning  of  the  law  with 
scholarly  accomplishments ;  and  those  who  desire  further  knowledge 
of  the  incidents  of  his  life,  are  referred  to  the  eloquent  and  affection- 
ate tribute  of  his  pupil,  Mr.  David  Paul  Brown,  in  the  first  volume 
of  "  The  Forum,"  and  to  the  "  Memoir''  by  the  late  Mr.  Wharton, 
and  the  letter  of  Mr.  Du  Ponceau  accompanying  it. — Editor. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  35 

Penn,  in  the  most  fair  and  candid  manner,  to  become, 
not  conquerors  but  cultivators  of  the  soil ;  to  conciliate, 
not  to  extirpate  the  natives — to  earn  their  bread  by 
labor,  not  to  acquire  wealth  by  the  prodigality  of  chance, 
the  pursuit  of  precious  metals,  or  by  reducing  the  helpless 
natives  to  slavery.  They  felt  no  disappointment  when 
they  found  that  woods  were  to  be  prostrated,  cabins  to 
be  erected,  the  earth  to  be  opened,  and  its  slow  returns 
received,  before  subsistence  was  obtained.  They  reHed 
on  the  smiles  of  a  gracious  Providence,  but  they  knew 
that  His  aid  is  only  granted  to  those  who  exert  all  their 
own  faculties  to  help  themselves. 

It  may  perhaps  be  fastidiously  asked,  what  interest 
can  be  found  in  the  narrative  of  husbandmen  or  manu- 
facturers, whose  days  were  spent  in  unvaried  labor  and 
whose  nights  were  disturbed  by  no  external  alarms ;  who 
prosecuted,  in  peaceful  and  obscure  succession,  the  same 
alternations  of  toil  and  rest  that  are  practised  by  men  of 
similar  occupations  over  all  the  earth  ?  Why  does  the 
peasant  of  Pennsylvania,  in  her  early  days,  deserve  a 
higher  place  in  history  than  the  peasant  of  England  or 
of  France? 

To  this  we  answer,  that  to  our  predecessors,  these 
mere  laborers  of  our  soil,  we  look  for  the  elements  of  that 
success  which  almost  uniformly  has  accompanied  our  pro- 
gress, and  on  the  same  principles  the  relation  may  also 
be  of  value  to  others. 

The  character  of  a  nation,  although  not  always  fixed 
by  the  character  of  those  with  whom  it  originates,  often 
retains    a   tincture    from   it   that   affects   its   subsequent 


36  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

course.  And  hence  it  IbllowH,  that  when  we  see  a 
nation  rolling  tuniultuously  down  the  torrent  of  time, 
invading,  overwhelming,  and  destroying  whatever  falls 
in  its  way,  we  are  led  to  inquire  whether  its  origin  was 
not  a  military  association. 

When  we  perceive  another  steadily  pursuing  a  course 
of  peace  and  concord  both  at  home  and  abroad,  we  are 
induced  to  suppose  that  it  arose  from  the  voluntary  or 
casual  union  of  men  who  cultivated  the  earth  with  honest 
labor  or  in  other  occupations  confined  themselves  to  useful 
industry,  uninterrupted  by  the  calculations  of  ambition  or 
the  incentives  to  violence  and  injustice. 

If  we  are  sometimes  disappointed  in  such  inquiries,  it 
is  from  the  want  of  this  elementary  evidence. 

It  is  true,  that  however  carefully  and  wisely  the  foun- 
dations of  society  may  at  first  be  laid,  we  cannot  always 
depend  on  their  permanence.  New  motives,  unexpected 
exigencies  sometimes  arise,  changing  or  totall}^  subverting 
all  original  principles.  The  Arabian  Shepherd  becomes 
a  warrior.  The  Teutonic  Chiefs  sink  into  peaceful 
farmers  of  the  land  which  they  have  subdued. 

Yet  stiU — if  we  wish  to  understand  the  nature  of  man, 
to  become  acquainted  with  ourselves — it  is  our  duty,  and 
in  the  prosecution  of  that  duty,  we  shall  find  it  a  dehght, 
to  ascend  to  the  rudiments  of  social  existence ;  to  ehcit 
theory  from  facts,  and  not  to  imagine  facts  for  the  pur- 
pose of  supporting  theories ;  and  thus,  if  possible,  to 
discover  by  what  means  order,  peace,  and  happiness 
have  been,  or  hereafter  may  be  rendered  most  permanent 
and  secure. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  37 

How  little  of  this  has  been  done  in  respect  to  the 
nations  of  the  other  three  continents ! 

How  interesting,  how  instructive  it  would  be  to  learn 
the  early  institutions  and  original  habits  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, the  parents  of  European  science  and  civilization : 
of  Etruria,  believed  to  have  made  such  advances  in 
moral  and  political  refinement  before  the  overwhelming 
power  of  Rome  began ;  or  of  Britain,  for  ages  before  the 
wanton  invasion  of  Caesar ! 

There  is  a  power  invisible  and  often  irresistible  which, 
while  it  sweeps  away  the  grandeur  of  nations  and  the 
toils  of  men,  involves  in  its  destruction  the  full  evidence 
of  their  former  existence,  and  leaves  us  but  th^  imperfect 
consciousness  of  the  loss. 

To  counteract  this  power  as  far  as  possible,  to  collect 
all  the  materials  that  have  not  yet  entirely  disappeared, 
to  preserve  all  the  abundance  which  the  events  of  every 
day  supply,  and  to  hand  them  down  in  authentic  form  to 
posterity,  is  at  present  felt  to  be  a  duty. 

Ilhterate  nations,  depending  on  oral  tradition,  soon 
become  ignorant  of  their  own  history. 

How  loose  and  obscure  is  all  that  can  be  gathered 
from  the  natives  of  this  country,  in  respect  to  their  times 
of  old. 

Both  in  Europe,  and  here,  recourse  is  had  to  poetic 
fiction,  down  to  the  time  when  history  received  the  aid 
of  letters. 

But  we  have  the  advantage  of  letters  and  of  the  press, 

^nd  we  ought   to   avail  ourselves  of  these   inestimable 

mechanic  ]powers  lest   we   incur   the   reproaches  of  pos- 


38  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

terity — centuries  hence — when,  according  to  the  uncer- 
tain course  of  human  events,  we  may  be  regarded  either 
as  an  example  to  be  followed,  or  a  beacon  to  be  shunned. 

In  Pennsylvania,  I  know  not  of  any  association  ex- 
pressly formed  for  these  purposes,  prior  to  the  institution 
of  the  Historical  and  Literary  Committee  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  in  the  year  1815. 

This  committee  has  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  valuable 
collection  of  historical  memorials,  including  many  manu- 
scripts relating  not  only  to  this  State,  but  to  other  parts 
of  the  United  States ;  for,  in  their  formation,  they  were 
charged  to  extend  their  inquiries  to  the  whole  continent 
and  to  the  islands  of  America,  although  the  leading 
objects  were  the  history,  geography,  and  statistics  of 
Pennsylvania. 

In  1819,  they  enriched  the  world  with  a  publication 
of  Heckewelder's*  "  Account  of  the  History,  Manners,  and 
Customs  of  the  Indian  Nations  who  once  inhabited 
Pennsylvania  and  the  Neighboring  States."  In  praise 
of  this  luminous,  impartial,  and  minute  relation,  drawn 
from  a  personal  intercourse  of  many  years,  too  much 
cannot  be  said.  The  author  was  well  known  to  many 
of  us :  he  was  disinterested,  unassuming,  and  pious,  and 
the  fullest  confidence  may  be  placed  in  all  that  he 
relates  from  his  own  observations. 

If  this  Committee  should  do  no  more  than  it  has  done 
in  publishing  this  work,  it  would  still  be  entitled  to  our 

*  A  Life  of  John  Heckewelder,  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Rondthaler,- 
edited  by  B.  H.  Coates,  M.D.,  was  published  in  Philadelphia,  1847. — 
Editor. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  39 

acknowledgments.  Six  years  have  intervened,  and 
nothing  further  has  aj)peared,  nor  has  a  full  catalogue 
of  their  library  or  their  cabinet  been  communicated  to 
the  public.  Yet  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that  thLs 
institution  is  intentionally  locked  up  from  general  use, 
nor  that  the  pauci-ty  of  its  communications  evinces  either 
jealousy  or  apathy  in  its  members.  The  radical  defect 
is,  that  it  consists  only  of  those  who  are  themselves 
members  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  and  no  one  can 
be  associated  in  the  Committee  who  is  not  a  member 
of  the  Society.  Fewer  interests  are  therefore  combined, 
and  the  public  looks  on  them  with  indifference. 

The  Society*  to  Commemorate  the  Landing  of  William 
Penn  is  expressly  confined  to  the  subject  designated  by 
its  title ;  and  while  I  trust  that  the  patriotic  and  highly 
honorable  feehng  which  led  to  its  formation  will  long 
continue,  I  cannot  conceive  that  it  is  sufficiently  compre- 
hensive for  the  purposes  we  have  in  view. 

The  members  of  an  historical  society  ought  to  be 
numerous,  perhaps  unlimited.  All  who  feel  a  strong 
interest  in  its  general  views  ought  to  be  admissible,  and 
every  inhabitant  of  our  State  ought  to  feel  that  interest. 
All  should  be  excited  to  throw  into  one  receptacle  what- 
ever they  possess  of  original  or  instructive  matter — not 
to  be  locked  up  till  it  moulders  into  oblivion — but  to  be 
subject  to  the  immediate  process  of  careful  investigation, 
till,  by  comparison  and  selection,  such  results  may  be 
drawTi  as  our  cotemporaries  may  receive  with  satis- 
faction and  posterity  with  advantage. 


*  This  Society  has  long  ceased  to  exist. — Editor. 


4.0  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

To  promote  these  leading  views,  I  took  the  hberty  to 
suggest,  and  you  have  l)ecn  pleased  to  adopt  the  idea, 
that  certain  permanent  committees  should  Ijc  appointed, 
by  some  one  of  which  most  of  our  objects  will  probably 
be  embraced,  and  to  one  or  more  of  which  every  member 
should  be  attached,  though  not  confined. 

"  The  national  origin,  early  difficulties,  and  domestic 
habits  of  the  first  settlers,"  seemed  at  once  to  strike  the 
mind,  and  were  assigned  to  the  first  of  these  committees. 

It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  without  emotion,  the 
original  introduction  of  the  man  of  Europe  to  the  native 
of  America.  Color,  habiliments,  language,  arts,  and 
customs,  all  how  unlike !  The  Lidian,  ignorant  of  the 
existence  of  such  a  country  as  Europe,  gazing  with 
astonishment  at  a  new  species  of  beings,  whose  views  in 
visiting  him  he  cannot  comprehend.  The  European, 
doubting  of  the  reception  he  shall  meet  wdth,  and 
uncertain  whether  conciliation  or  intimidation  will  be 
his  best  resource. 

I  speak  now  of  the  first  discoveries, — of  the  Spaniards 
to  the  south,  the  English,  the  Dutch,  and  the  French  to 
the  north.  But  these  strong  contrasts  do  not  altogether 
apply  to  Pennsylvania.  Between  the  English  colonies 
of  Virginia  and  New  England,  it  was  conceived  by  the 
Swedes  that  there  lay  a  tract  of  valuable  country  to 
which  no  European  power  had  a  claim;  and  desirous 
of  sharing  in  the  harvest  of  colonization,  always  allur- 
ing to  European  sovereigns,  and  in  those  days  enthusi- 
astically pursued  by  most  of  them,  Gustavus  Adolphus 
could  not  remain  inactive. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  41 

Having  suffered  others  to  precede  him,  little  remained 
for  him  to  appropriate ;  but  the  accounts  received  of  the 
easy  access  and  natural  fertility  of  this  spot,  encouraged 
him  to  make  the  attempt,  and,  in  1626,  his  royal  sanction 
was  given,  by  proclamation  at  Stockholm,  to  the  com- 
mencement of  a  colony  under  the  usual  pretences  : 

1st.  That  the  Christian  religion  would  thereby  be 
planted  among  the  heathens. 

2d.  That  his  majesty  would,  by  these  means,  enlarge 
his  dominions,  enrich  the  treasury,  and  lessen  the  public 
duties.* 

With  these  new  adventurers,  the  principle  adopted 
seems  to  have  been  that  of  conciUation.  I  shall  have 
occasion  again  to  advert  to  it. 

The  peculiar  part  of  the  present  subject  is  the  variety 
of  national  origin  which  characterized  the  infmt  colony 
of  Pennsylvania. 

The  settlements  of  New  England  and  of  Virginia 
'projyer  were  of  a  homogeneous  character.  They  were 
all  Ertglishmen.  New  York  and  East  New  Jersey  con- 
tained a  mixture.  The  Dutch,  originally  settled  there, 
remained,  under  their  ultimate  conqueror  Nichols,  con- 
firmed in  their  private  property,  but  submitting  in  all 

*  See  Holme's  History  of  New  Sweeclland,  printed  at  Stockholm, 
in  1602,  reprinted  by  the  New  York  Historical  Society.  Vol.  2,  p.  345. 
This  work  was  translated  by  Mr.  Du  Ponceau,  and  published  in 
1834,  as  a  part  of  the  third  volume  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  Society, 
but  is  not  of  much  authority.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  learned 
translator  did  not  afford  us  an  English  version  of  our  Swedish 
historian  Acrelius,  which  has  been  much  desired  by  the  historical' 
student. — Editor. 


42  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

tilings  to  the  new  government  imposed  on  tliem  by  the 
authority  of  the  Duke  of  York. 

On  the  western  shore  of  the  Delaware,  commencing  at 
Cape  Henlopen  and  extending  to  the  Falls,  a  distance 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles,  there  was  found  a 
mingled  assemblage  of  Swedes,  Dutch,  and  a  few  English, 
whose  history,  though  narrow,  is  deserving  of  notice. 

By  these  precessions  the  "  early  difficulties"  of  Penn's 
colonists  were  doubtless  diminished,  yet  there  still  re- 
mained much  to  encounter,  particularly  by  those  who 
arrived  at  an  ill-chosen  time  of  the  year. 

And  the  habits,  the  domestic  habits,  pure,  simple,  and 
industrious,  attributable  in  respect  to  some  to  the  meek 
and  peaceable  religion  they  possessed,  in  respect  to  others 
in  part  to  this  example,  and  in  part  to  surrounding  cir- 
cumstances, merit  and  doubtless  will  receive  a  full  inves- 
tigation and  an  accurate  portraiture. 

In  pursuing  these  inquiries  the  mind  will  insensibly 
be  led  from  facts  to  persons,  and  all  the  "  biographical 
notices  of  the  founder  and  his  family,  and  of  th^  early 
settlers,"  which  the  public  is  not  already  possessed  of, 
will  prove  highly  interesting,  not  only  to  their  descend- 
ants, but  to  those  Avho  delight  in  tracing  through  all  its 
recesses  the  history  of  man. 

Of  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania,  though  the  public 
knows  much,  it  does  not  perhaps  know  all.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  many  private  documents  are  still 
in  existence,  which  would  present  to  us,  in  colors  strong 
and  true,  the  enlightening,  vivifying,  and  chastening 
power  of  his  genius  on  all  around  him,  while  the  colony 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  43 

hung  on  him  as  their  judge,  their  legislator,  and  their 
guide.  Their  distant  friends,  their  native  homes,  their 
early  affections  and  enjoyments,  renounced  and  aban- 
doned forever,  were  replaced  and  compensated,  and 
heightened  in  all  their  value,  not  by  land  or  buildings, 
but  by  the  presence  and  the  overshadowing  and  undis- 
criminating  sympathy  and  paternal  care  of  William  Penn. 

The  committee  expressly  appointed  for  this  purpose 
will  give  and  receive  assistance  from  liberal  and  frequent 
communications  with  that  first  mentioned  and  with  the 
following. 

Biographical  curiosity  and  utility  will  not  be  conjBned 
to  the  first  age  of  Pennsylvania.  There  are  men  who 
have  revealed  great  superiorities  of  intellect,  and  have 
made  noble  advances  in  science,  who  have  conceived  and 
promoted  systems  of  public  benefit,  or  have  added  to  the 
stock  of  elegant  literature ;  many  such  men  succeeded  to 
the  first  class  of  settlers.  Many  such  have  not  long  been 
removed  from  us.  We  owe  it  to  ourselves  for  present 
excitement  and  imitation — we  owe  it  to  posterity — to 
collect,  before  it  is  too  late,  whatever  was  great  and 
eminent,  whatever  was  singularly  virtuous  and  wise 
among  those  of  old,  or  those  whose  graves  may  still  be 
marked  by  the  freshness  of  the  sod,  or  the  unextin- 
guished lamentations  of  their  friends.  Nay,  this  com- 
mittee will  perform  a  legitimate  office  in  recording 
whatever  is  remarkable  on  the  score  of  mere  singularity. 

The  irregularities  of  the  human  mind  form  a  part  of 
its  genuine  history.  It  is  profitable  to  study  and  delight- 
ful to  understand  the  manners  of  different  nations.     In 


44  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

some  degree  the  same  pleasure  may  ])e  felt  and  the  same 
advantage  drawn  from  contemplating  the  difference 
among  individuals  of  whom  nations  are  composed. 
There  is  generally,  in  personal  singularity,  much  to 
avoid  and  condemn,  but  we  may  occasionally  find  some- 
thing to  excuse,  and  even  sometimes  to  approve. 

A  fourth  committee  is  charged  with  a  view  of  the 
"revenues,  expenses,  and  general  polity  of  the  govern- 
ment of  Pennsylvania,"  and  from  its  labors  is  expected  a 
mass  of  historical  information  that  may  furnish  useful 
assistance  to  present  and  future  statesmen. 

While  the  public  expense  was  small — while  property 
rested  on  a  few  simple  elements,  before  the  increase  of 
commerce  and  the  consequent  introduction  of  artificial 
intricate  sj^stems — taxation,  direct  or  indirect,  must  have 
been  simple. 

The  supposed  or  real  necessity  of  issuing  the  first 
paper  money,  its  effects  upon  the  people,  the  mode  of 
redeeming  it,  the  objects  to  which  revenues  in  any  shape 
were  applied,  will  be  delineated.  But  larger  views  may 
be  united  with  these  inquiries.  The  "  general  polity"  of 
Provincial  Pennsylvania  will  gradually  come  before  us. 
We  shall  trace,  step  by  step,  its  own  internal  peace  and 
order  and  happiness  in  the  outset;  its  abhorrence  of  all 
violence  and  vice.  We  shall  inquire  whether,  when 
misrule  or  discord  in  any  shape  appeared,  they  were  to  be 
ascribed  to  ourselves  or  to  some  visible  external  imjDulse  or 
some  extraneous  principle  covertly  introduced  among  us. 

And  this  committee  will  no  doubt  fearlessly  and  faith- 
fully furnish  us  with  all  that  can  enable  us  to  decide,  in 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  45 

what  instances  and  from  what  causes  there  have  been 
any  material  aberrations  from  the  original  principles  and 
primary  systems  of  a  sage  whose  merits  and  whose  fame, 
in  every  branch  of  civil  government,  have  been  celebrated 
over  the  world,  and  should  ever  remain  deeply  engraven 
on  our  hearts. 

Connected  in  a  degree  with  this  committee,  but  pursu- 
ing some  diversity  in  the  objects  of  investigation,  is  the 
inquiry  into  "  the  principles  to  which  the  rapid  popula- 
tion of  Pennsylvania  may  be  ascribed." 

It  is  a  general  opinion  that  a  severe  oppressive  govern- 
ment impedes  the  natural  tendency  of  mankind  to  in- 
crease. Yet,  this  opinion  has  been  shaken  by  the  late 
exposure  of  the  state  of  population  in  Ireland.  Rudely 
as  that  unfortunate  country  is  treated  by  its  jealous  and 
unfeehng  masters  in  England,  we  are  assured  that  the 
human  race  has  nearly  quadrupled  itself,  in  the  last 
hundred  years.  Some  other  principle  must  therefore  be 
sought.  Is  it  the  facihty  of  obtaining  subsistence  ?  To 
this  we  are  likewise  referred  by  many  as  the  true  cause 
of  a  liberal  population.  Yet  here  again  the  example 
weakens,  if  it  does  not  refute  the  position.  Is  it  the 
consciousness  of  the  security  of  individual  property? 
Alas,  while  the  unhappy  peasantry  of  Ireland  have  so 
little  that  they  can  call  their  own,  even  this  little  is 
rendered  uncertain,  by  the  occasional  and  irregular 
inroads  of  fiscal  or  ecclesiastical  rapacity. 

The  subject  thus  devolved  on  the  committee  will, 
therefore,  be  found  not  entirely  to  depend  on  the  general 
polity  of  our  government,  not  entirely  on  the  fertility  of 


4G  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

soil  or  security  of  property;  it  will  cull  [or  the  iriost 
deliberate  and  jjrofoujid  investigation,  it  will  lead  to  the 
most  laborious  and  acute  discriminations ;  and  conducted, 
as  no  doubt  they  will  be,  the  labors  of  this  committee 
will  contribute  to  enlarge  the  stock  of  public  information 
and  enlighten  the  universal  family  of  man. 

Another  not  much  less  diffusive  ground  will  be  taken 
by  the  committee  "on  the  progress  and  present  state 
of  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  commerce  in  Penn- 
sylvania." 

From  the  opening  of  the  virgin  soil  to  receive  the 
aboriginal  grain  by  the  early  settler,  now  for  the  first 
time  become  acquainted  wdth  it,  to  the  extensive  cultivar 
tion  of  the  whole  face  of  the  country ;  from  the  first 
rough  manufacture  of  domestic  implements  to  the  fabri- 
cation of  almost  every  article  of  necessity  or  luxury; 
from  the  humble  trafiic  of  one  plantation  with  another  to 
the  expanded  commerce  of  the  world, — how  interesting, 
how  instructive  it  will  be  to  view  the  gradual  and  profit- 
able progress. 

There  will  be  rests  and  stops  in  the  history,  on  which 
it  may  be  convenient  to  dwell  for  a  time. 

Thus  we  may  consider  the  manufacturing  and  commer- 
cial history  of  our  province  do^vn  to  the  Peace  of  1763. 

A  second  stage  would  be  down  to  the  commencement 
of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  from  that  period  to  the 
present  day. 

Statistical  tables  at  these  or  some  other  periods,  which 
the  committee  may  on  consideration  prefer,  will  be 
acceptable  adjuncts  to  their  reports. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  47 

The  progress  of  those  liberal  and  judicious  plans  of 
internal  improvement  in  which  so  many  excellent 
citizens  are  now  zealously  engaged,  may  also  form 
proper  subjects  of  historical  report.  If  we  do  not,  as 
a  body,  participate  in  their  labors,  we  may,  at  last,  have 
the  pleasure  to  record  them. 

Two  other  committees,  whose  functions  are  sufficiently 
indicated  by  their  titles,  will  greatly  contribute  to  the 
promotion  of  useful  knowledge  on  points  which  interest 
us  all. 

"  The  medical  history  of  Pennsylvania"  will  naturally 
lead  the  inquirers  into  a  view  of  the  pharmacy  and  chi- 
rurgery  of  the  natives ;  with  those  will  be  connected  the 
early  medical  practice  of  the  colonists. 

The  necessary  relation  of  pharmaceutics  to  climate  and 
situation — the  discoveries  and  improvements  of  physi- 
cians— the  history  of  local  or  endemial  diseases — the 
successive  opinions  that  have  been  entertained  as  to 
their  causes  and  their  treatment — these  and  many  other 
subjects  will  render  the  reports  of  this  committee  highly 
valuable  to  us  all. 

"  The  juridical  history  of  Pennsylvania"  seems  at  first 
view  more  confined;  and  if  we  consider  law  merely  in 
the  light  of  positive  and  local  obhgation,  the  impression 
would  be  just.  But  as  a  general  science,  proceeding  from 
a  divine  source  and  intended  to  be  adapted  to  the  nature 
of  man,  the  earliest  regulations  of  even  the  rudest 
nations,  deserve  attention,  because  they  show  the  con- 
ception of  the  general  system  entertained  at  difierent 
times  and  in  different  places.     Localities,  national  em- 


48  INAUGUKAL     D  I  S  C  0  U  II  S  E. 

ploymcnt,  and  other  circuiiistaiiccH  diversif)'  the  appli- 
cation of  principles ;  but  the  philosophic  mind  is  gratified 
in  tracing  through  the  incumbrances  of  forms  and  modes 
of  positive  enactment,  the  great  rudiments  of  moral 
obligation  and  universal  law.  Our  first  acts  of  legislation 
are  to  be  expounded  by  the  political  situation  of  the 
pro\dnce — by  the  subordination  to  the  parent  country, 
and  the  veneration  naturally  felt  for  its  institutions ;  by 
the  strong,  bold  counteractions  of  some  of  those  institu- 
tions, necessarily  resulting  from  the  removal  to  a  new 
country;  from  the  intermixture  of  men  of  a  different 
origin ;  from  the  predominance  of  peaceful  religious 
principles,  and  similar  considerations — all  of  which  will 
suggest  to  the  committee  that  the  benefit  of  its  accurate 
researches  will  not  be  confined  to  one  profession  nor  to 
Pennsylvania. 

They  will  enter  into  the  history  of  general  jurispi-u- 
dence,  and  enable  future  Grotiuses  and  Montesquieus  to 
correct  some  of  the  few  errors  into  which  they  have 
occasionally  fallen. 

"  The  literary  history  of  Pennsylvania"  is  consigned  to 
another  committee,  and  let  no  one  smile  at  the  mention 
of  the  literary  history  of  Pennsylvania. 

It  is  true,  that  in  the  outset  the  obligation  of  attending 
to  the  first  necessities  of  hfe  cannot  be  supposed  to  have 
left  much  leisure  for  the  decorations  of  polite  learning ; 
and  that  the  press  (for  a  printing  press  was  established 
here  as  early  as  1686)  was  probably  occupied  entirely 
with  public  proceedings,  matters  of  mere  business,  or  the 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  49 

polemical  pamphlets  ensuing  from  Keith's  controversy 
with  the  Friends. 

But  William  Penn  was  himself  a  man  of  letters,  and 
he  had  those  about  him  who  also  possessed  learning  and 
delighted  in  books.* 

A  most  important  branch  of  disquisition  still  remains, 
which  has  also  been  assigned  to  a  special  committee. 
It  is  that  which  relates  to  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  incidentally  of  all  this  vast  country. 

The  true  condition  of  the  northern  part  of  America, 
before  the  discoveries  of  Columbus,  cannot  now  be  ascer- 
tained. In  the  islands,  he  found  an  improved,  an  agri- 
cultural, and  a  numerous  people.  Hispaniola  alone  was 
computed  to  contain  a  million  of  inhabitants.-|-  When 
Cortez  boldly  and  unjustly  penetrated  into  the  heart  of 
the  Mexican  Empire,  he  discovered  an  organized  power, 
pursuing  in  tranquillity  and  peace  the  arts  of  civihzed 
life;    and  the   subsequent   invasion  of  Peru  by  Pizarro 

*  An  account  of  our  early  institutions  for  the  instruction  of  youth, 
may  also  be  expected  from  this  committee.  Of  these,  the  first  com- 
menced under  a  liberal  charter  from  William  Penn,  and  is  still  in 
Jlourishing  existence.  It  contributes  to  remove  an  erroneous  opinion 
entertained  by  some,  that  the  Society  of  Friends  is  generally  opposed 
to  much  human  learning.  Their  Barclay,  their  Logan,  their  Story, 
are  the  proofs  to  the  contrary.  Whoever  reads  the  book  so  highly 
and  justly  prized  by  them,  entitled  "  No  Cross  No  Grown,''^  com- 
posed by  William  Penn,  while  immured  in  the  Tower,  will  find  a 
profusion  of  ancient  learning.  And  the  only  general  history  of 
Pennsylvania  that  has  yet  been  attempted,  was  by  a  man  of  great 
erudition,  a  member  of  this  Society,  and  the  principal  teacher  in  the 
institution  above  mentioned. 

f  Robertson,  Vol.  I,  p.  221,  he  quotes  Herrera. 
4 


50  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

produced  the  same  result.  In  respect  to  these  parts  of 
the  great  continent  at  that  time,  hist(jry  is  little  at  a  loss. 
Only  some  obscure  and  remote  tribes,  scarcely  recognized 
by  the  general  government  of  the  country,  and  in  many 
cases  beyond  the  reach  of  their  power,  remained  unvisited 
and  unkno\vTi. 

But  of  North  America  we  have  less  certain  knowledge. 
The  first  settlers,  comparatively  few,  exploring  less  the 
interior  of  the  country  than  its  harbors  and  its  streams, 
were  acquainted  only  with  the  inhabitants  in  the  vicinity 
of  their  own  settlements.  A  knowledge  of  those  remote 
from  the  coast  was  slowly  and  gradually  obtained.  The 
English  power  does  not  appear  to  have  set  on  foot  any 
expedition  for  mere  inland  discovery. 

A  Spaniard  {De  Soto)  and  two  Frenchmen  {De  La 
Salle  and  Hennejyin)  were  the  only  persons  who  in  early 
times  carried  on  expeditions  through  the  interior,  chiefly 
for  purposes  of  discovery  as  well  of  its  topography  as 
of  the  character,  numbers,  and  manners  of  its  native 
inhabitants. 

It  is  unaccountable  that  no  such  measure  was  under- 
taken by  the  active  and  enlightened  WilHam  Penn. 

If  such  inquiries  had  been  made,  if  intelligent  persons 
had  explored  the  whole  country  from  North  to  South, 
from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Mississippi,  we  should 
probably  be  possessed  of  certam  and  valuable  information 
in  respect  to  the  "  names,  the  numbers,  the  habits,  and 
the  history"  of  many  nations  which  have  now  wholly 
disappeared  from  the  chart  of  human  existence. 

It  is    not,   however,   supposed    that   a   much   greater 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  51 

degree  of  what  we  term  civilization  would,  at  that  time, 
have  been  discovered  among  them.  Whatever  were 
their  advances  in  moral  improvement  and  the  arts  of  life, 
at  or  before  the  times  when  those  mounds  and  structures 
took  place  of  which  we  are  unable  to  discover  the  causes 
or  the  agents,  it  is  possible  that  their  inquiries  would  not 
have  yielded  full  satisfaction.  Yet  those  travellers  would 
have  been  considerably  nearer  to  the  times  of  their  con- 
struction ;  and  if,  notwithstanding  their  efforts  to  be  in- 
formed, doubt  and  obscurity  still  continued,  it  would  have 
afforded  further  proof  that  the  original  settlement  of  this 
country,  from  whencesoever  it  proceeded,  was  of  most 
remote  antiquity. 

The  fate  of  nations  is  not  always  the  same.  They  do 
not,  perhaps  they  cannot,  consistently  with  the  character 
of  man,  always  continue  at  the  same  point. 

Knowledge  and  improvement  advance  slowly  —  the 
condition  of  society  becomes  more  happy  as  they 
advance.  When  the  point  of  extreme  refinement  is 
attained,  the  enervation  of  luxury  generally  invites 
foreign  invasion.  A  yoke  is  imposed,  sometimes  hght- 
ened  by  the  wisdom  of  civilized  conquerors,  some- 
times rendered  heavy  and  oppressive  by  imcultivated 
barbarians.  In  either  case  the  subjugated  nation  with 
its  independence  loses  its  ardor  for  a  continuance  and 
enjoyment  of  those  arts  and  sciences  which  it  had  pre- 
\dously  attained.  In  the  latter  case  particularly,  bar- 
barism, when  it  triumphs,  delights  to  overthrow  and 
eradicate  whatever  has  formed  the  ornament  and  felicity 
of  those  whom  it  subdues.     Thus  Egypt  preserved,  under 


52  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

the  domiiijitioii  oi'  the  Roiiiiiiis,  a  secondary,  but  still  a 
valuable  station  in  the  Avorld  of  letters.  Its  rude  Ara- 
bian conquerors,  inflamed  Ijy  Ijigotry  and  blinded  by  their 
own  ignorance,  overwhelmed  and  destroyed  the  remnants 
of  their  ancient  civilization,  and  reduced  them  almost 
instantaneously  to  a  barbarism  beyond  their  own.  There 
Is  scarcely  a  set  of  people  now  to  be  found  more  ignorant 
and  degraded  than  the  Fellahs  and  the  CojjIs  of  Egypt. 

The  total  subversion  of  knowledge  and  improvement  is 
perhaps  always  the  effect  of  external  force.  Nations  do 
not  spontaneously  relapse  into  rudeness  and  ignorance. 

During  the  long  and  absolute  domination  of  the 
Romans  in  Britain,  their  literary  cultivation  and  polished 
habits  may  have  been  partially  communicated  to  the 
natives ;  of  this  however  we  can  speak  with  no  certainty, 
but  we  are  fully  apprised  that  on  the  final  departure  of 
the  Romans,  the  Britons  soon  became,  perhaps,  as  un- 
informed and  unimproved  as  they  were  before,  and 
certainly  more  timid,  helpless,  and  inert.  Learning  soon 
decayed,  or  was  confined  to  their  priesthood;  and  the 
ardor  of  a  national  spirit,  the  only  source  of  national 
excellence,  was  wholly  extinguished. 

If,  from  any  cause,  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that 
science  and  the  arts  were  once  more  highly  cultivated 
in  this  country ;  that  civiUzation  and  improvement  once 
existed  in  a  greater  degree  than  the  first  Europeans 
found  them,  we  must  attribute  their  decline  to  some 
external  cause  of  the  nature  before  described. 

Are   those   whom   we   found   in   possession   the    rude 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  53 

victors  and  final  extirpators  of  a  former  population  more 
enlightened  and  refined?  Or  has  there  been  a  temporary* 
occupation  of  the  land  by  a  superior  and  improved  nation 
which  has  afterwards  migrated  further  south,  and  left 
the  original  inhabitants,  as  the  Romans  left  the  Britons, 
to  their  ancient  unaltered  habits  ? 

Heclcewelder  reports  the  Indian  traditions  that  all  this 
part  of  the  country  was  conquered  by  the  Lenapi,  a 
nation  from  the  west — whom  we  found  in  possession,  and 
to  whom  we  gave  the  name  of  Delawares.  It  is  said  to 
have  been  previously  inhabited  by  the  AUegewis,  whom 
the  Lenapis,  on  what  is  stated  to  be  a  just  cause  of  war, 
utterly  subdued  and  expelled. 

But  what  was  the  origin  of  the  Lenapi  ? 

The  present  condition  of  these  ancient  lords  of  the  soil 
merits  our  close  attention.  If,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  a 
map  had  been  published  of  this  part  of  our  great  conti- 
nent, and  a  color  had  been  adopted  to  designate  the 
inhabitants,  we  should  have  seen  the  whole  surface  of 
the  same.  By  degrees,  as  European  colonies  were 
planted  and  extended,  slender  lines  marked  by  various 
appropriated  hues,  would  have  been  visible  on  the  coast, 
gradually  widening  westward,  till  the  indigenous  tint 
became  almost  extinct.  Of  the  many  hundred  thousands 
who  then  held  this  country  as  their  own,  how  few,  how 
scattered,  and  in  some  cases  how  miserable  are  their 
descendants.  Let  us  for  a  moment  place  the  map  before 
us,  and  contemplate  the  slender  number  that  yet  remain 
eastward  of  the  Mississippi. 


54  INAUGURAL     D  1  S  C  0  U  K  S  E. 

A  report  made  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  during  the 
present  year,  founded  on  careful  inquiry,  reduces  them 
to  about  80,000. 

It  would  occupy  too  much  time  to  give  you  the  details. 
It  is  sufficient  to  observe  that  their  numbers  are  the 
smallest  in  the  most  ancient  State.  Virginia  is  reported 
to  contiiin  but  forty-seven.  In  Pennsylvania,  though  one 
of  the  youngest  of  the  original  colonies,  I  know  of  none, 
except  the  remains  of  Cornplanter's  family,  for  whose  use 
a  tract  of  land  was  secured  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature, 
in  1791.  They  follow  agriculture,  and  occasionally  take 
their  products  to  Pittsburg. 

In  some  of  our  States  they  are  kindly  treated,  and 
protected  by  the  government. 

To  prevent?  the  artifices  of  men  who  might  avail  them- 
selves of  their  ignorance,  they  have  consented  to  be 
legally  incapacitated  from  aliening  their  lands  on  any 
consideration  and  to  any  persons ;  and,  to  promote  their 
civilization  and  improvement,  great  pains  are  taken  in 
many  places  to  educate  their  children,  and  to  instruct 
the  whole  of  them  in  agriculture  and  the  common  arts 
and  manufactures. 

Many  pious  and  benevolent  Christians  have  relin- 
quished the  enjoyments  of  civilized  life  and  devoted 
themselves  to  the  endeavor  to  improve  the  inhabitants 
of  these  isolated  communities.  There  seems  to  have 
been  more  encouragement  for  such  attempts  than  has 
been  afforded  to  the  generous  missionaries  who  have 
heretofore  encountered  the  hardships  of  savage  Ufe  among 
the  entire  tribes  in  their  own  country.      These  efforts, 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  56 

after  much  counteraction  from  the  priests  and  jugglers 
of  the  natives,  have  sometimes  indeed  been  attended  with 
partial  success ;  but,  in  the  frequent  revolutions  produced 
by  war  among  themselves,  the  encroachments  of  the 
whites,  cessions  and  emigrations,  the  traces  of  improve- 
ment disappear,  and  the  disheartened  laborers  have  re- 
tired from  the  field  with  the  feelings  of  the  husbandman 
who  sees  his  harvest  destroyed  by  the  violence  of  a  tempest. 

In  the  smaller  settlements  thus  patronized  and  secured, 
the  success,  though  limited  in  extent,  may  be  hoped  to  be 
permanent.  On  this  occasion  I  cannot  avoid  adverting 
to  the  exemplary  course  pursued  by  the  Society  of  Fiienda 
acting  under  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia. 

The  once  numerous  tribe  of  the  Senecas  with  some  of 
the  Onondagoes,  formerly  component  parts  of  the  great 
Iroquois  Confederacy,  now  reduced  to  about  six  hundred 
and  fifty  persons,  are  seated  on  a  small  tract  of  land  on 
the  Alleghany  River.  It  lies  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  was  reserved  and  promised  to  be  secured  to  them 
forever  by  that  State.  About  thirty  years  ago,  the 
settlement  attracted  the  attention  of  this  religious  society. 
It  was  proposed  to  improve  at  least  their  moral  condition, 
to  suppress  their  fondness  for  the  chase,  and  their  habits 
of  intemperance  and  idleness,  and  thus  gradually  to  open 
their  minds  to  the  reception  of  the  pure  religion  of  the 
gospel.  For  this  purpose  it  was  conceived,  that  occa- 
sional visits  and  exhortations  would  prove  inadequate. 
It  was  determined  to  do  more,  to  set  them  examples  by 
the  delegation  of  prudent  and  industrious  persons  who 
would  settle,  not  among  them,  for  that  would  have  been 


5G  I  N  A  U  (',  i:  li  A  I.     I)  I  S  G  0  U  R  S  K. 

iucoiisLstent  with  tlic  State  regulations,  but  as  near  to 
theiii  as  possible ;  and  individuals  were  aceordingly 
selected  who  devoted  themselves  to  a  task  of"  which  a 
sense  of  duty  may  be  conceived  to  constitute  the  principal 
pleasure. 

Land  was  purchased,  buildings  erected,  and  men  and 
women  Friends  fixed  themselves  upon  it.  Agriculture 
and  some  of  the  mechanic  arts  are  practised  and  success- 
fully imitated  by  the  natives.  The  women  Friends  have 
instructed  the  female  Indians  in  such  of  the  domestic  arts 
as  come  wdthin  their  sphere.  A  school  is  kept,  and 
"  pains  are  taken  to  impress  the  great  duties  of  morahty, 
and  to  lead  on  to  that  state  of  mind  which  delights  in 
communion  with,  and  in  the  approbation  of  their  Creator, 
the  Great  Spirit  j  but  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity have  not  yet  generally  been  pressed  further  than 
to  give  lessons  of  reading  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments." 

By  these  modes  of  proceeding  the  kindest  affections  of 
the  natives  have  been  conciliated;  even  the  turbulent  Red 
Jacket,  the  chief  who  so  lately  complained  to  the  New 
York  Legislature  of  the  intrusion  of  Christian  mission- 
aries, has  expressed  his  approbation  of  the  conduct  of 
these  Friends;  and  the  settlement  at  Cattaraugus,  an- 
other Indian  reserve,  at  the  distance  of  thirty  miles, 
have  strenuously  urged  the  Society  to  open  a  school 
among  them  also. 

Here  we  see  the  spirit  of  Penn.  His  system  seems  to 
have  been  to  soften  and  enlarge  the  Indian  heart,  before 
attempting    to    press    upon   it   those   subhme    doctrmes 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  57 

which  could  not  be  immediately  comprehended ;  and  it 
has  been  pursued  to  the  happiest  effects  by  this  benevo- 
lent societ}^,  in  their  quiet  unassuming  manner,  without 
calling  on  the  public  for  assistance  or  applause,''' 

Among  some  of  the  southern  Indians,  the  same  bene- 
volent efforts  have  been  pursued  on  a  large  scale,  at  the 
expense  of  the  United  States.^ 

From  these  pleasing  contemplations  we  turn  with 
regret  to  those  different  opinions  which  seem  to  prevail 
among  some  of  our  fellow  citizens :  opinions  which  are 
likely,  unless  they  shall  be  overpowered  by  mild,  good 
sense  and  calm  reflection,  to  produce  consequences  inju- 
rious both  to  our  peace  and  reputation. 

It  would  be  rash  to  assert,  that,  in  the  comparative 
estimate  of  the  original  and  the  now  predominant  popu- 
lation of  America,  society  has  not  been  a  gainer  by  the 
vast  ascendency  of  the  latter. 

It  would  be  the  folly  of  enthusiasm  to  conceive  that 
if  this  part  of  our  great  continent  still  remained  in  the 
exclusive  possession  of  its  ancient  inhabitants  without 
an  alteration  of  their  ancient  manners,  the  general 
interests  of  man  would  be  promoted.  No,  the  great  and 
glorious  spectacle  exhibited  by  the  formation  of  the 
United  States  into  one  body,  by  her  attainments  in 
science,  her  self-defence  in  war,  her  rational  principles 


*  The  missionaries  among  the  Choctaws,  established  in  1817,  are 
understood  to  have  adopted  the  same  course. 

t  See  the  message  of  the  President,  March  30,  182-4,  and  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  attached  to  the  subsequent  message 
of  January  17,  1825. 


()S  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

of  liberty,  and  her  novel  and  suljlime  .system  of  govern- 
ment, would  have  been  unknown  to  the  world,  but  for 
the  discovery  and  settlement  of  North  America. 

The  permanent  basis  of  every  government  must,  how- 
ever, be  the  principle  of  justice. 

Have  we  then  justly  acquired  a  right  to  the  soil  on 
which  we  tread — on  which  we  have  erected  our  edifices, 
established  our  political  systems,  and  proclaimed  our- 
selves to  the  world,  a  free,  a  sovereign,  and  an  enlight- 
ened people  ? 

The  inquiry,  in  itself,  is  highly  interesting ;  and,  as  it 
leads  to  an  examination  of  our  ancient  history,  is,  for 
this  Society,  not  improper. 

A  right  to  the  soil  depends  on  the  mode  by  which 
possession  was  acquired.  It  is  only  by  military  conquest 
or  voluntary  cession,  that  the  rights  of  the  original  occu- 
pants are  divested.  But  if  the  conquest  is  made  by 
invaders  without  right,  the  title  is  as  illegitimate  as  the 
war  by  Avhich  it  is  acquired.  Such  acquisitions,  founded 
only  on  superior  force,  are  destitute  of  moral  sanction, 
and  do  not  extinguish  the  original  rights  of  the  prior 
occupants. 

The  Europeans  could  claim  no  right  by  conquest,  for 
they  had  received  no  previous  injury  to  justify  a  war. 
The  natives  of  this  continent  were  utterly  ignorant  even 
of  the  existence  of  such  a  place  as  EurojDe,  till  we  poured 
upon  them  our  adventurers,  our  refinements,  and  our 
vices. 

There  was,  therefore,  no  pretence  for  depriving  them 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  59 

of  their  land,  except  the  feeble  one  that,  although  in 
their  actual  sovereign  possession,  their  modes  of  making 
use  of  the  soil  were  such  as  gave  them  no  title  to  it. 
That  is,  that  thej  did  not  till  the  ground,  nor  hve  in 
condensed  bodies ;  but,  depending  on  the  chase,  roamed 
loosely  and  at  large,  over  the  vast  tracts  which  they 
ignorantly  supposed  were  their  own.  For  we  may  dis- 
miss, with  a  sigh  at  human  perversity,  the  still  less 
founded  allegation,  that  the  extension  of  the  Christian 
religion  would  justify  the  seizure  of  the  property,  and  the 
destruction  of  the  persons  of  the  natives. 

Let  us  then  bestow  a  short  consideration  on  the  other 
supposed  justification  of  European  right  to  divest  Ameri- 
can proprietors. 

A  few  principles  will  be  concisely  laid  down  : 

1.  Property  is  another  word  for  dominion.  The  right 
to  hold,  to  regulate,  to  dispose  of  lands,  or  any  other 
subject. 

2.  We  read  in  holy  writ,  that  God  gave  to  Adam 
dominion  over  the  earth.  Dominion  thus  became  a 
quality  incident  to  rational  existence, — it  was  given  to 
man  alone,  and  it  was  given  without  qualification  or 
restraint. 

3.  If  we  can  discover  no  restriction  in  the  first  dona- 
tion, where  else  are  we  to  look  for  it  ?  If  we  do  not  find 
it  in  the  outset  imposed  as  a  condition  upon  man,  that  he 
shall  raise  his  own  subsistence  by  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil  or  the  domestication  of  animals,  we  can  find  no 
power  elsewhere  to  impose  such  a  condition. 


GO  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

4.  Nations  are  moral  entities,  knowing  no  superior  coer- 
cive power,  but  })ound,  for  their  own  interests,  faitlifully  and 
imifonuly  to  adhere  to  the  principles  of  virtue  and  justice. 

The  advantages  derived  from  mere  power  continue 
only  as  long  as  the  power  continues.  The  advantages 
of  pursuing  a  course  of  virtue  and  justice  are  certain  and 
permanent. 

What  would  be  unlawful  in  an  individual  would  be 
unlaw^ful  in  a  nation,  and  the  latter  is  not  exempted  from 
its  obligation  by  not  being  subjected  to  that  coercive 
power  which  restrains  or  punishes  the  individual. 

We  may,  therefore,  consider  it  as  an  axiom,  that  one 
nation  depriving  another  of  its  property  by  a  mode  which 
would  be  unlaw^ful  in  an  individual  is  no  less  guilty  than 
the  individual  would  be. 

5.  A  nation  has  no  right  to  seize  lands  within  the 
known  limits  of  another  nation,  under  the  pretence  that 
there  are  no  individual  occupants  on  it.  Such  lands  are 
the  property  of  the  nation  within  whose  boundaries  they 
lie ;  and  it  has  the  sole  right  to  grant  them  to  others,  or 
to  make  use  of  them  in  such  way  as  its  government  may 
think  proper. 

Internal  causes  may  induce  the  government  to  retain 
them  in  its  own  hands  for  a  time,  to  dispose  of  them  in 
succession  to  its  own  citizens,  or  to  exclude  all  per- 
sons from  cultivating  them.  In  England  there  are 
large  bodies  of  land  w^hich  have  lain  waste  and  unin- 
habited for  ages.  They  are  considered  as  belonging  to 
the  nation,  and  cannot  be  enclosed  without  a  legislative 


INAUGUKAL     DISCOURSE.  61 

act.  And  with  us,  when  the  Indian  titles  to  particular 
bodies  of  land  has  been  fairly  acquired,  the  lands  become, 
in  point  of  fact,  vacant,  till  the  government  disposes  of 
them  to  purchasers. 

Our  European  neighbors,  the  British  in  Canada,  or  the 
Spaniards  to  the  south,  never  had  the  fatuity  to  conceive 
that  the}^  had  a  right  in  the  meantime  to  enter  on  such 
lands  and  aj)propriate  them  to  themselves. 

A  case  may  however  be  supposed,  but  history  does  not, 
to  my  memory,  furnish  such  an  instance,  of  the  total 
extirpation  of  a  nation  by  disease,  when  all  its  lands 
would  return  to  the  bosom  of  nature,  open  to  the  right 
of  the  next  occupants.  There  was  indeed  a  pretence  of 
this  sort  set  up  by  one  of  our  first  colonies.  A  mortal 
disease  had  swept  away  so  many  of  the  original  inhabit- 
ants, that  the  Plymouth  Colony,  considering  it  as  they 
declared,  almost  a  Providential  preparation  for  their 
settlement,  conceived  that  they  had  no  more  to  do  than 
to  take  possession  of  the  vacancy. 

The  maxim  that  dominium  vacuivm  ceditur  occupanti, 
was  strenuously  enforced,  but  it  soon  produced  sangui- 
nary evidence  that  the  case  supposed  had  not  happened, 
and  that  the  nation  whose  lands  they  seized  was  not 
annihilated. 

Speculative  writers,  and  some  of  great  eminence,  have 
hazarded  opinions  on  the  other  branch  of  this  subject; 
that  is,  the  connection  of  the  right  to  the  soil  with  the 
mode  in  which  it  is  employed,  which  in  themselves  would 
be  of  httle  moment,  because  their   practical  efiect  has 


G2  I  N  A  U  G  U  11  A  L     DISCOURSE. 

been  but  partial,  were  it  not  that  late  political  move- 
ments among  ourselves  seem  to  have  revived  them  with 
a  formidable  aspect. 

The  argument  is,  that  to  promote  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation is  a  great  principle  which  ought  to  govern  all  man- 
kind. And  some  even  assert  that  it  is  a  divine  command 
that  the  earth  shall  be  so  occupied  and  employed,  that  it 
will  produce  and  support  the  greatest  number  of  human 
beings. 

The  dedication  of  large  territory  to  the  mere  purposes 
of  hunting  is  suggested  to  be  a  scheme  of  direct  hostihty 
to  the  performance  of  this  duty.  Applied  to  the  arts  of 
agriculture,  or  the  mere  pasturage  of  domestic  animals,  a 
much  greater  number  of  individuals  can  be  raised  and 
maintained  on  the  same  space  of  ground ;  and  therefore, 
a  nation  devoted  to  the  chase  ought,  when  required,  to 
surrender  its  possessions  to  those  who  propose  to  raise 
grain  or  feed  domestic  animals. 

Such  is  the  sophistry  which  has  been  applied  to  the 
title  of  tlie  Aborigines,  and  it  surely  requires  little  labor 
to  refute  it. 

1.  To  subsist  upon  the  product  of  the  chase  is  forbid- 
den by  no  revealed  law — not  a  passage  can  be  adduced 
from  holy  writ  which  prohibits  it. 

2.  A  body  of  men,  constituting  an  independent  nation, 
may  appropriate  to  itself  a  territory  not  belonging  to 
others,  and  make  any  lawful  use  of  it,  without  being 
responsible  to  others  for  such  use.  It  may  exclusively 
pursue  commerce,  manufactures,  agriculture,  or  hunting. 
If  the  mode  of  employment  is  not  the  best  adapted  to  its 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  63 

own  benefit,  it  will  substitute  another;  but  the  nation 
itself  must,  on  such  subjects,  be  the  only  judge.  No 
other  nation  has  the  right  to  require  it  to  abandon 
one  employment  and  assume  another,  and  still  less  to 
divest  it  of  its  territory,  in  order  that  it  may  itself 
employ  it  in  a  better  manner. 

If  the  dependence  on  the  chase  retards  the  increase 
of  population,  it  is  an  evil  which  in  time  will  produce  its 
own  redress.  The  natural  tendency  of  the  human  mind 
is  to  pursue  its  own  improvement  and  attain  the  greatest 
possible  share  of  happiness.  This  impulsive  princij)le 
has  produced  all  the  knowledge,  science,  and  prosperity 
now  in  existence.  It  operates  more  slowly  or  more 
rapidly  according  to  surrounding  circumstances.  A 
severe  cHmate  and  a  forbidding  soil  may  long  delay  it. 
A  genial  sky,  a  fertile  territory,  unimpeded  by  foreign 
causes,  will  insensibly  lead  to  meliorations  of  the  mind, 
to  the  sweetness  of  domestic  attractions,  and  to  employ- 
ments less  erratic  and  more  productive  than  hunting.  A 
nation  has  the  legal  right  to  retain  the  means  of  such 
voluntary  changes  in  its  own  hands.  It  ought  not  to  be 
deprived  tif  the  chance  of  future,  though  perhaps  very 
distant  civilization,  by  its  own  procurement. 

Whatever  weight  there  may  be  in  the  preference  of 
one  mode  of  emj)loyment  to  another,  it  is  an  abuse  to 
apply  it  to  the  subversion  of  national  rights.  If  such 
rights  are  to  be  prostrated,  and  those  who  make  the  best 
use  of  the  land  by  the  most  skilful  refinements  of  art  are 
entitled  to  possess  it,  the  right  of  possession  would  be 
ever  unstable  and  transient.     The  people  of  England  and 


64  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

Franco  are  probaljly  tlie  Ijcst  farmers  in  Europe :  in  their 
hands,  a  given  quantity  of  land  will  maintain  a  greater 
numher  of  people  than  it  would  under  the  management 
of  an  equal  number  of  Spaniards  or  Hungarians.  Will  it 
be  pretended  that  the  French  or  the  English  have,  there- 
fore, a  right  to  seize  the  less  productive  fields  of  Spain  or 
Hungary  ?  Nay,  if  this  principle  is  established  as  a  rule 
for  the  conduct  of  nations,  nmst  it  not  also  extend  to 
private  life  and  individual  property?  Would  not  the 
skilful  and  industrious  farmer  be  entitled  to  drive  away 
one  who  was  less  acquainted  with  the  art  of  agriculture 
or  who  neglected  it  altogether?  The  man  of  wealth 
throws  a  large  portion  of  his  country  estate  into  pleasure 
grounds, — the  anxious  farmer  in  his  neighborhood  could 
produce  enough  on  the  same  grounds  to  subsist  one 
hundred  persons.  Was  it  ever  conceived  that  he  had 
a  right  to  destroy  the  pahngs  of  the  park  and  plough  up 
the  lawn  of  his  luxurious  neighbor  ? 

As  we  bring  the  subject  home  by  familiar  example, 
we  see  its  absurdity;  and  the  Indians  themselves  have 
adopted  the  same  reasoning. 

When  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  States,  at  the 
instance  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  were  urging  the  Chero- 
kees  to  sell  the  remainder  of  their  lands,  they  observed 
to  this  intelligent  nation,  that  "  the  Great  Father  of  the 
Universe  must  have  given  the  earth  equally  for  the 
inheritance  of  his  white  and  red  children." 

The  three  chiefs  who  conducted  the  correspondence  on 
the  other  side,  modestly  rejDlied,  "  We  do  not  know  the 
intentions  of  the  Supreme  Father  in  this  particular,  but  it 


INAUGURAL    DISCOURSE.  65 

is  evident  that  this  principle  has  never  been  observed  or 
respected  by  nations  or  by  individuals.  If  your  assertion 
be  a  correct  idea  of  his  intention,  why  do  the  laws  of 
enlightened  and  civiUzed  nations  allow  a  man  to  mono- 
polize more  land  than  he  can  cultivate."* 

It  is  the  honor  of  our  country,  that  its  practice  hereto- 
fore has  generally,  though  not  without  exceptions,  been 
in  accordance  with  the  existence  of  the  Indian  rights, 
notwithstanding  the  manner  in  which  they  make  use  of 
the  soil. 

In  taking  a  short  view  of  the  course  pursued  in  the 
different  provinces,  it  will  be  perceived  that  William 
Penn  did  not  first  set  the  example  of  these  acts  of 
strict  justice,  although  he  closely  conformed  to  the  best 
examples  of  others. 

In  Europe,  he  has  frequently  been  applauded  for 
having  led  the  way ;  but  he,  himself,  never  claimed  this 
credit,  and  his  other  merits  are  sufficiently  great  to  bear 
the  destitution  of  this.  It  is  one  of  the  offices  of  history, 
and  will  be  one  of  the  leading  objects  of  the  present  Insti- 
tution, to  combine  fidelity  of  narration  with  industry  of 
research.  Our  Pennsylvania  pride  may  be  affected  by 
the  confession,  but  it  would  not  be  honest  to  retain  in  our 
plume  a  single  feather  that  is  not  our  own. 

Beginning  with  the  northern  colony  of  New  Hamp- 
shire (for  Maine  was  only  a  part  of  Massachusetts),  I  find 
that  so  early  as  1629,  they  purchased  of  the  natives  what 
appears  to  have  been  considered  the  entire  area  of  the 

*  See  the  President's  Message  of  March  30,  1824,  with  the  docu- 
ments appended,  p.  25,  21. 
5 


6G  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

province,  "  acquiring  thereby,"  says  the  respectable  Bel- 
knap, "  a  more  valuable  right,  in  q,  moral  view,  than  any 
European  prince  could  give."* 

Of  Massachusetts,  I  find  it  difficult  to  speak.  Two 
years  after  this  transaction  in  New  Hampshire,  "the 
Governor  and  Deputy  of  the  New  England  Committee  for 
a  Plantation  in  Massachusetts  Bay,"  wrote  out  from  Eng- 
land to  the  colony  in  the  following  terms : 

"  If  any  of  the  Salvages  pretend  a  right  of  inheritance 
to  all  or  any  part  of  the  lands  granted  in  our  patent,  we 
pray  you  to  endeavor  to  purchase  off  their  title,  that  we 
may  avoid  the  least  scruple  of  intrusion."-]* 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  if  this  course  had  not 
been  previously  pursued,  it  would  then  have  been 
adopted ;  but,  from  the  following  passage  in  Hutchinson, 
one  of  their  historians,  it  does  not  appear  that  such  pur- 
chases, if  made,  were  in  all  instances  fairly  conducted. 

Hutchinson,  when  speaking  of  the  famous  King  Philip, 
who  gave  these  colonists  so  much  trouble,  says,  "Although 
his  father  had  at  one  time  or  other  conveyed  to  the  Eng- 
lish all  that  they  were  possessed  of,  yet  Philip  had  sense 
enough  to  distinguish  between  a  free,  voluntary  covenant, 
and  one  made  imder  duress." 

A  conveyance  from  one  of  the  Indians  is,  indeed,  given 
by  the  Historical  Society  of  Massachusetts.^     It  is  from  a 

*  Belknap's  History  of  New  Hampshire,  Yol.  I.,  p.  12.  See  also 
p.  10  and  128.  The  deed  itself  is  set  forth  at  full  length  in  Hazard's 
Historical  Collections,  Yol.  I.,  p.  272. 

t  See  Hazard,  Yol.  I.,  p.  263. 

"l  Collections  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Yol.  lY , 
New  Series,  p.  266. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  67 

person  of  the  name  of  Philip,  and  without  a  date,  for  what 
seems  to  be  a  small  tract  of  land.  And  from  the  curious 
account  which  we  have  of  the  dispute  between  the  cele- 
brated Roger  Williams  and  the  Plymouth  Colony,  it 
would  appear,  that  the  practice  of  purchasing  was  but 
partially  exercised.  When  he  remonstrated  against  the 
injustice  of  depriving  the  Indians  of  their  lands  without 
a  reasonable  compensation,  they  answered,  as  I  have 
before  observed,  "  That  God  having  shortly  before  their 
arrival,  swept  away  many  thousands  of  the  natives,  they 
had  a  right  to  occupy  the  vacant  territory;"  to  which 
they  added,  "  That  if  the  natives  complained  of  any 
straits  put  on  them,  we  gave  satisfaction  in  some  payment 
or  other  to  their  content."  They  also  assumed  the  unten- 
able ground,  that  an  agricultural  nation  had  a  right  to 
possess  itself  of  territory  employed  merely  for  the  purpose 
of  hunting ;  and  when  WilUams  inquired  by  what  right, 
upon  this  principle,  noblemen  and  men  of  great  landed 
property,  in  England,  could  justifiably  set  hunting- 
grounds  apart  for  their  own  use,  their  feeble  reply  was, 
that  in  other  respects  those  noblemen  and  gentlemen 
rendered  great  services  to  the  community.  WilHams  was 
compelled  to  leave  the  colony  on  account  of  this  and 
other  errors  of  opinion.  He  retired  with  some  adherents 
to  Narraganset  Bay,  where  he  commenced  a  settlement 
called  Providence,  and,  with  laudable  consistency  and 
before  he  broke  ground,  made  a  full  purchase  of  the 
Indians,  who  were  the  now  extinguished  tribe  of  the 
Narragansets,  then  a  powerful  nation.  This  was  in 
1644. 


68  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

In  Connecticut,  it  appears  that  a  similar  course  was  in 
most  cases  pursued.  Before  the  colony  was  definitively 
separated  from  the  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  Govern- 
ment, a  tribe  of  Indians  on  the  river  Connecticut  invited 
the  latter  to  form  a  settlement  among  them,  in  order  that 
they  might  be  protected  against  the  warlike  Pequots.  In 
1632,  this  request  was  complied  with ;  and  about  two 
3^ears  afterwards,  the  Pequots,  in  a  treaty  with  Lord  Say 
and  Sele,  surrendered  a  portion  of  their  territory  to  him. 

The  Pequots  were  a  highminded  race  :  the  only  nation 
which,  in  that  part  of  the  world,  had  refused  to  pay 
tribute  to  the  Imperial  Mohawks.  They  knew  and 
valued  their  rights ;  they  foresaw  the  ruin  that  impended 
on  their  national  existence  by  the  introduction  of  a 
superior  class  of  beings,  armed  with  destructive  weapons, 
and  eager  to  use  them.  The  praises  due  to  patriotism 
and  courage;  the  admiration  we  bestow  upon  ancient 
nations,  who  hazarded  everything  in  defence  of  their 
rights,  their  liberties,  and  their  soil,  should  not  be  with- 
held from  the  Pequots.  Like  the  Carthaginians,  they 
have  no  historians  of  their  own.  We  take  their  history, 
and  our  impressions  of  their  character,  from  the  pens  of 
their  enemies,  their  oppressors  and  ultimate  destroyers. 
If  we  find  them  soon  afterwards  engaged  in  a  severe  and 
bloody  war  with  the  English,  we  are  not  thence  to  infer 
that  the  Pequots  were  the  aggressors. 

In  1635,  a  small  English  settlement  was  made  at 
Windsor,  independent  of  the  acquisition  of  Lord  Say  and 
Sele.  The  Indians  were  considered  by  them  as  the  only 
rightful  proprietors,  and  the  land  was  purchased  from  them. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  69 

In  1662,  Connecticut  was  erected  by  the  Charter  of 
Charles  II.  into  a  separate  province.  John  Mason,  agent 
for  the  colony,  is  said  to  have  purchased,  of  the  Indians, 
all  lands  within  their  bounds  which  had  not  been  pre- 
viously purchased  by  particular  towns ;  and  he  publicly 
surrendered  them  to  the  colony  in  presence  of  the  Greneral 
Assembly. 

But  in  this  purchase  the  remaining  territory  of  the 
Pequots  was  probably  not  included ;  for,  before  this  time, 
the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  had  asserted  their 
title  by  conquest,  in  a  declaration  beginning  as  follows : 

"  Whereas  it  has  pleased  the  Lord,  in  his  great  mercy, 
to  dehver  into  our  hands  our  enemies,  the  Pequots  and 
their  allies,  and  thereby  the  lands  and  places  they  pos- 
sessed are,  by  just  right  of  conquest,  fallen  to  us  and  our 
friends  and  associates  on  the  Connecticut  River,"  &c.* 

Independent  of  this  exception,  if,  in  point  of  fact,  it  is 
an  exception,  it  is  gratifying  to  perceive  that  Connecti- 
cut is  to  be  added  to  the  Hst  of  those  who  acknowledged 
and  fairly  acquired  the  Indian  rights. 

Within  the  provmce  of  New  Netherlands,  afterwards 
New  York,  the  Dutch  unquestionably  purchased  where- 
ever  they  formed  settlements;  and  after  the  final  con- 
quest by  Nichols,  the  same  policy  was  cautiously  pursued 
by  him  and  his  successors.  The  purchases  of  the  Dutch 
extended,  as  their  claims  also  extended,  beyond  the 
present  limits  of  New  York.     In  1632,  they  purchased 

*  Hazard's  Collections,  Yol.  L,  p.  42Y.  The  date  is  20th  of  9th 
month,  1G3Y,  a  remarkable  adoption  of  the  peculiar  style  of  a  people 
against  whom  much  severity  was  about  that  time  practised. 


70  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

of  the  natives  lands  on  both  sides  oi"  the  river  Delaware, 
but  to  what  distance  we  are  not  now  infonued. 

In  New  Jersey,  this  amicable  course  was  steadily  pur- 
sued. In  1GG9,  Sir  George  Carteret  is  stated  to  have 
purchased  the  Indian  rights;  but  they  could  not  have 
been  all  their  rights,  for  new  comers  were  required  by 
the  government,  either  to  purchase  of  the  Indians  them- 
selves, or,  if  the  lands  were  already  purchased,  to  pay 
their  proportions.  The  practice  of  separate  purchases 
was,  however,  soon  found  to  be  productive  of  mischief, 
and  was  forbidden  by  act  of  Assembly. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  Pennsylvania,  where  we  shall 
find  the  way  already  prepared,  in  this  respect,  for  William 
Penn. 

The  Swedes,  who  had  superseded  the  Dutch  in  the 
occupancy  of  the  western  bank  of  the  Delaware,  had,  in 
1637,*  purchased  from  the  natives  a  tract  of  land,  to  which 
the  instructions  given  by  Christina,  the  daughter  and  suc- 
cessor of  Gustavus,  to  Governor  Printz,  who  came  out  with 
the  second  colony,  in  1642,  refer  in  the  following  terms : 


*  This  is  an  error  of  date,  into  which  several  writers  have 
fallen.  At  the  time  the  Discourse  was  prepared,  the  existence  of 
many  valuable  documents  relating  to  the  history  of  the  New 
Netherlands  was  not  known  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
These  have  since  been  obtained  through  the  agency  of  Mr.  Brod- 
head,  and  published  by  the  liberality  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
The  Swedes  arrived  in  the  spring  of  1638.  An  examination  of  the 
Letter  from  Jerome  Hawley,  Treasurer  of  "Virginia,  to  Mr.  Secretary 
Windebanke,  and  of  the  Protest  of  Kieft,  Director-General  of  New 
Netherlands,  will,  we  think,  fix  the  date  of  arrival  in  Api'il  of  that 
year.  See  Ferris'  Original  Settlements  on  the  Delaware,  p.  32,  &c. ; 
Hazard's  Annals  of  Penn,  42,  44,  48 ;  Documentary  History  of 
New  York,  edited  by  Dr.  E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  Yol.  III.,  20.— Editor. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  71 

"  When  the  Governor  shall,  God  wilhng,  arrive  in  New 
Sweden,  he  must  carefully  observe  that  the  hmits  of  the 
country  which  our  subjects  possess  by  virtue  of  the  con- 
tract made  with  the  savage  inhabitants  as  legitimate 
owners  of  it,  according  to  the  deeds,  extend  to  the  sea- 
shore at  Cape  Henlopen,  upwards  on  the  west  side  of 
Godin's  Bay*  and  upwards  on  the  Great  South  Riverf  to 
Mingoes  Creek,J  where  the  Fortress  Christina  is  erected 
and  from  thence  further  along  the  river  to  a  place  called 
by  the  wild  inhabitants  Sankikans,§  where  the  bound- 
aries are  to  be  found." 

It  is  stipulated  in  the  contract  that  Her  Majesty's 
subjects  may  occupy  as  much  of  the  country  as  they 
shall  choose. 

The  original  deed  is  deposited  in  the  National  Archives 
at  Stockholm.  1 1 

*  Delaware  Bay. 

■j"  This  name  was  given  to  the  Delaware  River  by  the  Dutch.  It 
appears  that  the  Indians  called  it  Mackerish  Kitton. 

I  Christina  Creek,  so  named  in  honor  of  the  Queen  of  Sweden. 
The  fort  stood  near  the  present  site  of  Wilmington,  Del — Editor. 

§  Now  the  Falls  of  Trenton. 

II  I  have  this  information  from  my  venerable  friend  Dr.  Collin. 
See  also  a  curious  little  book  entitled  "  History  of  New  Sweedland,"* 
reprinted  by  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  in  which  it  is  stated, 
that  a  copy  of  this  deed  was  read  by  the  Swedes  to  the  Indians,  at 
Tinicum,  in  the  year  1654.  Their  different  emotions  are  described 
as  the  names  of  those  who  signed  the  deeds  were  pronounced,  rejoic- 
ing when  they  heard  the  names  of  persons  still  living,  hanging  down 
their  heads  in  sorrow  when  they  were  no  more. 


*  The  same  work  referred  to,  in  a  former  note,  as  having  been  written  by  Cam- 
panius,  translated  by  Mr.  Du  Ponceau  and  published  by  the  Society.  This 
touching  allusion  may  be  found  on  page  78,  of  Mr.  Du  Ponceau's  Translation.— 
Editok. 


72  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

The  Swedes  erected  several  forts,  not  to  defend  them- 
selves against  the  Indians,  l)ut  against  the  Dutch.  A 
petty  warfare  took  place  between  the  two  nations ;  and 
the  last  capture  by  Stuyvesant,  that  of  Fort  Christina, 
completed  the  subjugation  of  the  Swedes. 

The  Dutch  rights  expired  with  the  conquest  of  New 
York ;  and  WiUiam  Penn,  by  the  two  grants  which  he 
received,  first  from  Charles  II.  and  secondly  from  the 
Duke  of  York,  became  proprietor  of  what  was  termed  the 
three  lower  counties,  which  now  constitute  the  State  of 
Delaware,  and  of  that  great  and  valuable  territory  to 
which,  against  his  own  inclination,  the  name  of  Penn- 
sylvania was  given.* 

Before  his  arrival,  the  policy  which  he  afterwards  so 


*  Although  perhaps  not  meant,  yet  the  impression  left  by  the 
language  of  the  text  is  that  Penn  objected  to  the  name,  because 
given  in  honor  of  himself.  He  did  object,  but  it  was  for  another 
reason.  *  *  *  "  This  day  my  country  was  confirmed  to  me  under 
the  Great  Seal  of  England,  with  large  powers  and  privileges,  by  the 
name  of  Pennsylvania,  a  name  t^.ie  King  would  give  it  in  honor  of 
my  father.  I  choose  New  Wales,  being  as  this,  a  pretty  hilly 
country,  but  Penn  being  Welsh  for  a  head,  as  Penmanmoire  in 
Wales,  and  Penrith  in  Cumberland,  and  Penn  in  Buckinghamshire, 
the  highest  land  in  England,  called  this  Pennsilvania,  which  is  the 
high  or  head  ivoodlands ;  for  I  proposed,  when  the  Secretary,  a 
Welshman,  refused  to  have  it  called  New  Wales,  Sylvayiia,  and  they 
added  renn  to  it,  and,  though  I  much  opposed  it,  and  went  to  the 
King  to  have  it  struck  out  and  altered,  he  said  'twas  past,  and 
would  take  it  upon  him ;  nor  could  twenty  guineas  move  the  under- 
secretary to  vary  the  name,  for  I  feared  lest  it  should  be  lookt  on 
as  a  vanity  in  me,  and  not  as  a  respect  in  the  King,  as  it  truly  was, 
to  my  father,  whom  he  often  mentions  with  praise."  *  *  *  * 
— Penn  to  Robert  Turner,  5th  ]st  mo.,  1681 ;  Hazard's  Annals,  500; 
and  Register  of  Pennsylvania,  I.,  29t,  and  Post.  p.  209. — Editor. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  73 

strictly  pursued,  was  commenced,  under  his  instructions, 
by  Markliam,  his  heutenani>governor,  with  the  assistance 
of  Commissioners  appointed  by  Penn ;  and  a  small  addi- 
tional purchase  was  made,  or  a  release  of  some  rights  to 
which  the  Swedes  had  not  perhaps  fully  attended,  was 
obtained.     This  was  in  July,  1682. 

The  personal  arrival  of  the  wise  and  benevolent 
founder  was  preceded  by  a  letter  to  the  native  inhabit- 
ants, expressing,  in  plain  and  affectionate  language,  the 
terms  on  which  he  desired  "  to  live  with  them,"  and  in- 
forming them  that  he  had  sent  Commissioners  "to  treat 
with  them  about  land  and  a  firm  league  of  peace."  Shortly 
after  he  landed,  which  was  on  the  24th  of  October,  1682,* 
we  find  him  commencing  this  amicable  exchange  of  goods 
acceptable  to  the  Indians  for  land,  which  they  were  will- 
ing to  cede. 

The  first  deed  is  dated  June  23d,  1683 ;  and,  with  aU 
the  subsequent  conveyances  as  well  to  the  descendants 
of  William  Penn  as  to  the  State  after  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  may  be  seen  in  Mr.  Charles  Smith's 
valuable  edition  of  the  laws,  to  which  reference  is 
easy. 

Let  me  here  remark  that  by  the  faithful  observance  of 
this  honest  policy,  Pennsylvania  has  been  exempted  from 
those  domestic  wars  which  have  afilicted  some  of  her 
neighbors.     In  1756,  when  Kittaning  was  destroyed  by 

*  This  is  the  date  of  his  arrival  at  the  Capes.  On  the  2Vth,  0.  S., 
he  arrived  before  New  Castle ;  landed  there  on  the  28th,  and  took 
formal  possession  of  the  territory.  On  the  next  day,  he  arrived  at 
Upland,  now  Chester. — Editor. 


74  INAUGURAL    DISCOURSE. 

Colonel   Armstrong,   and   during   the    Revolution,  when 
part  of  our  State  again  became  the  theatre  of  war,  the 
Indians  were  seduced  and  employed  by  foreign  nations.* 
Fifty  years  before  the  date  of  our  Charter,  the  adven- 
turers under  Calvert,  after  a  view  of  several  parts  of  the 
country  within  the  chartered  limits  of  Maryland,  fixed  on 
a  place  called  Yaoeomoco,  of  which  they  made  a  free  and 
fair  purchase  from  the  natives,  and  where,  under  the 
name  of  St.  Mary's,  they  established  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment.    The  same  course  was  afterwards  regularly  pur- 
sued, except  during  a  short  interval  commencing  in  the 
year  1642,  when  the  Indians,  incited  and  misled  by  some 
of  Lord  Baltimore's  enemies,  commenced  a  war,  on  the 
conclusion  of  which,  how^ever,  measures  so  moderate  and 
prudent  were  adopted,  that  the  most  perfect  satisfaction 
on  the  part  of  the  natives  universally  prevailed. 

Of  the  course  pursued  by  Virginia,  I  should  be  at  a 
loss,  without  the  information  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  to  give  any 
certain  account.  Captain  Smith's  own  narrative,  and  the 
histories  of  Beverley  and  Stithe,  afford  little  satisfaction 
in  this  respect. 

In  the  "  Notes  upon  Virginia,"  Mr.  Jefferson's  language 
is  as  follows :  "  That  the  lands  were  taken  from  the 
natives  by  conquest,  is  not  so  general  a  truth  as  is  sup- 
posed. I  find  in  our  histories  and  records  repeated 
proofs  of  purchase,  which  cover  a  considerable  part  of  the 
lower  country,  and  many  more  would  doubtless  be  found 

*  See  Kilty's  Landholder's  Assistant,  printed  at  Baltimore,  in 
1808.  Mr.  Kilty  was  register  of  the  Land  Office  for  the  Eastern 
Shore,  and  his  book  contains  much  useful  information. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  75 

on  further  search.  The  upper  country,  we  know,  has 
been  acquired  altogether  by  purchases  made  in  the  most 
miexceptionable  form." 

In  respect  to  the  two  Carohnas,  their  early  history 
presents  a  fluctuating  view  of  alternate  fair  deahng  and 
cruel  outrage. 

I  collect  generally  from  Chalmers,*  that  the  emigrants 
from  the  northern  settlements  to  Carohna  made  pur- 
chases of  the  Indians,  and  their  example  was  probably 
followed  by  those  who  migrated  from  Europe.  Hewitt, 
who,  in  1779,  published  a  history  of  these  provinces, 
describes  the  early  settlers  as  involved  in  constant  ^var 
with  the  natives.  Yet  he  vaguely  alludes  to  private 
purchases  from  them.  The  first  treaty  made  by  the 
government,  denoting  any  measure  of  this  sort,  was 
in  1721;  and,  in  1750,  another  was  made  to  the  same 
eflect. 

An  anecdote  in  relation  to  Lawson,  surveyor-general 
of  North  Carolina,  seems  to  confirm  the  fiict  of  some 
acquisitions  having  been  fairly  made.  Having  ventured 
himself  among  a  tribe  at  a  distance  from  the  coast,  he 
was  seized  and  formally  put  to  trial  on  a  charge  of 
having  surveyed  lands  beyond  their  cessions,  condenmed 
and  executed.  His  fellow  traveller,  a  Swiss  Baron,  who 
had  a  large  settlement  of  his  countrymen  at  or  near  New 
Berne,  was  liberated.     We  may,  therefore,  suppose  that 

*  P.  516.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that  some  part  of  the  lands  ou 
the  coast  were  claimed  as  acquisitions  hj  conquest.  Although  Wil- 
liamson says,  generally",  that  the  settlers  there  purchased  of  the 
uativ'es. 


7G  I  N  A  U  G  U  11  A  L     DISCOURSE. 

the    domains   of    the    hitter   were   within    some    ceded 
territory.'^' 

When  the  spirited  and  phihanthropic  Oglethorpe  led  a 
colony  to  Georgia,  he  began  by  purchasing  of  the  Indians. 
But  the  tranquillity  of  his  settlements  was  much  dis- 
turbed by  the  Spaniards ;  and  I  am  in  want  of  materials 
to  give  a  satisfiictory  account  of  their  further  procedures 
in  respect  to  the  acquisition  of  Indian  rights. 

Thus,  generally,  was  an  Indian  title  recognized  by  the 
early  colonists  from  whom  we  proceeded,  and  under 
whom  the  right  on  wdiich  our  property  depends  is 
derived. 

The  Revolution  took  place :  provinces  became  States, 
and  each  State  was  admitted  to  be  commensurate  in 
boundary  with  the  province.  The  United  States  suc- 
ceeded to  the  rights  of  the  British  Crown.  Whatever 
the  latter  was  entitled  to,  and  had  not  granted  away, 
became  the  property  of  the  United  States. 

The  lands  not  yet  ceded  by  the  Indians,  now  became 
the  subjects  of  amicable  purchase,  either  by  the  particular 
State  or  by  the  United  States ;  and  from  the  era  of  our 
Independence,  the  pretence  of  acquisition  in  any  other 
mode  or  of  right  on  any  other  principle,  is  not  to  be 
found  in  the  acts  of  the  General  Government. 

Of  this  rule  of  proceeding  very  honorable  e\adence  is 
afforded  in  the  treaty  of  1814,  made  by  General  Jackson 
with  a  part  of  the  Creek  Nation.    Although  these  deluded 

*  Williamson,  p.  192,  and  app.  285.  This  Lawson  had  published 
in  London,  in  lt09,  an  account  of  a  voyage  to  Carolina,  in  which  he 
speaks  of  the  Indians  with  asperity  and  contempt. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  77 

men  were  wholly  defeated,  and  their  country  entirely  in 
our  possession,  so  that,  by  the  laws  of  war,  the  right  by 
conquest  was  complete,  yet  the  United  States,  instead  of 
expelling  them  from  their  homes,  entered  into  a  fair 
treaty  with  them,  accepted  a  cession  of  part  of  their 
land,  and  guaranteed  to  them  the  integrity  of  all  the 
remainder. 

It  is  not  particularly  connected  with  the  subject,  before 
us,  yet  it  is  not  improper  to  add,  that  the  vanquished 
being  reduced  to  extreme  want,  the  United  States,  with 
a  noble  humanity,  engaged  to  provide  for  them  the  neces- 
saries of  life  till  the  crops  of  corn  became  competent  to 
furnish  the  Nation  a  supply. 

Can  a  similar  instance  be  found  in  the  annals  of  Europe? 

Yet  still,  although  their  political  rights  are  thus  recog- 
nized, the  moral  condition  of  those  of  the  natives  who 
are  near  to  our  settlements  is  generally  unhappy.  The 
regular  advance  of  the  whites,  the  gradual  diminution  of 
their  territory  by  sales  which  they  feel  the  necessity  of 
making;  the  conviction  that  this  corrosive  process  is  in 
its  nature  irresistible,  produces  among  the  remnants  of 
those  tribes  which  are  still  addicted  to  ancient  habits, 
dejection  and  despair. 

The  gentlemen  who  accompanied  Major  Long  in  his 
Second  Expedition,  observe,  "  That  formerly  the  Indian 
was  sparing  in  killing  game,  but  at  present  he  considers 
himself  a  stranger  in  the  land  of  his  fathers, — his  pro- 
perty daily  exposed  to  the  encroachments  of  the  white 
man, — and  therefore,  he  hunts  down  indiscriminately 
every  animal  *he   meets,  doubting   whether  he  will   be 


78  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

permitted  in  the  ensuing  year  to  reap  tlie  fruits  of  hig 
foresight  during  the  present."'*' 

But  it  is  melancholy  to  reflect,  that  relief  from  these 
apprehensions  is  not  certainly  attained  by  the  Indians 
adopting  other  modes  of  employment,  but  Ijy  their 
becoming  civilized  and  Christians. 

One  of  the  southern  nations,  to  which  I  have  already 
alluded,  has  relinquished  its  ancient  appetite  for  war  and 
dependence  on  the  chase ;  has  industriously  applied  it- 
self to  the  regular  labors  of  agriculture  and  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  arts.  Its  youth  are  educated  in  the  Christian 
religion,  and  its  country  exhibits  one  smiling  prospect  of 
cultivated  fields,  substantial  dwelhngs,  and  prosperous 
industry,  under  a  government  regularly  organized,  and 
laws  wisely  made  and  actively  enforced.  Yet  even  these 
are  now  trembling  for  their  own  security.  Of  the  em- 
ployment of  actual  force  they  are  not  apprehensive,  but 
they  continue  to  be  constantly  and  earnestly  solicited  by 
the  United  States,  at  the  instance  of  a  State  which  I 
have  already  mentioned,  to  exchange  these  lands  for  others 
that  shall  be  assigned  to  them  beyond  the  Mississippi. 

Some  portions  of  these  people,  seven  or  eight  years 
ago,  assented  to  our  request,  and  removed  to  a  barbarous 
neighborhood,  where  they  have  had  to  experience  all  the 
primeval  difficulties  of  savage  life,  increased  by  the 
jealousy  and  disUke  of  the  old  inhabitants.  The  latter 
had  indeed  pre"vaously  made  a  cession  to  our  General 
Government,  which  it  was  hoped  would  secure  a  peace- 

*  Keating's  account  of  Long's  Second  Expedition,  Yol.  I.,  p.  232. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  79 

able  reception  for  the  emigrants ;  but  the  fierce  habits  of 
the  Osages  and  Arkansas,  the  reduced  dimensions  of 
their  territories,  and  the  frequent  colhsion  of  their 
hunters,  have  produced  effects  that  were  not  fore- 
seen.* 

To  the  ill  result  of  this  first  experiment  the  Cherokees 
now  frequently  appeal ;  and  while  they  humbly  and  fer- 
vently solicit  to  be  permitted  to  remain  in  peace  and 
quietness,  to  enjoy  the  advantages  they  derive  from  their 
own  internal  improvements,  they  inquire  why  the  United 
States  will  still  urge  them  to  abandon  the  blessings 
which,  at  their  suggestion,  were  sought  for  and  ac- 
quired. 

"  When  the  Indians  themselves  (said  a  Cherokee  chief 
in  1822,  in  a  letter  which  has  been  printed  verhatim,  from 
his  own  MS.)  seem  to  manifest  a  thirst  to  reach  after  the 
blessings  and  hapjDiness  of  civilized  life,  I  cannot  believe 
that  the  United  States  Government  will  continue  the 
lukewarm  system  of  pohcy  in  her  relations  with  the 
Indians,  as  has  been  hitherto  adopted,  to  effect  the  pur- 
pose ;  of  removing  nation  after  nation  of  them  from  the 
lands  of  their  fathers  into  the  remote  wilderness,  where 
their  encroachments  on  the  hunting  grounds  of  other 
tribes  has  been  attended  with  the  unhappy  consequences 
of  quarrels,  wars,  and  bloodshed.  Has  not  this  been  the 
result  of  the  removal  of  part  of  our  own  nation  to  the 
Arkansas  ?  Yes,  the  uplifted  tomahawk  is  now  wielding, 
and  the  scalping  knife  is  unsheathed  between  the  Arkan- 

*  See  President's  Message,  March  30th,  1824,  p.  57. 


80  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

sas,  Clicrokces,  and  Osagcs,  for  tlie  horrid  destruction  of 
each  other.'"^' 

These  anxious  and  unhappy  men  might  ask  us  another 
question.  What  security  shall  we  have,  they  might  say, 
if,  in  compliance  with  your  entreaties,  we  surrender  the 
remnant  of  our  lands,  and  remove  to  a  rude  country  and 
a  bad  neighborhood  ?  What  security  shall  we  have  that  if 
we  do  not  relapse  into  our  ancient  barbarism,  but  continue 
as  we  now  are,  industrious  and  successful  agriculturists, 
you  will  not  again  invade  us  with  your  urgent  entreaties 
to  cede  to  you  all  that  we  may  have  a  second  time  re- 
claimed from  nature  and  improved  by  art,  and  to  plunge 
into  more  distant  wildernesses,  to  suffer  more  distressing 
privations,  and  to  encounter  more  destructive  hostilities  ? 

To  such  an  inquiry  it  would  be  in  vain  to  answer  that 
the  United  States  will  solemnly  guarantee  to  them  the 
perpetual  and  undisturbed  possession  of  the  new  terri- 
tories they  are  sent  to  enjoy.  Alas !  they  would  reply, 
here,  holding  up  the  treaty  of  Solstojiyf  here  is  the  solemn 
guarantee  of  the  land  we  are  now  seated  on, — the  solemn 
assurance  that  we  and  our  children  may  consider  it  as 
our  own  forever.  On  this  faith  we  have  struck  our 
ploughs  into  the  ground,  and  erected  houses  like  your 
own  in  our  fields.  We  have  copied  your  manners,  have 
educated  our  children,  and  many  of  us  have  adopted  your 

*  See  the  letter  at  length,  at  page  399  of  Dr.  Morse's  Report  to 
the  Secretary  of  War.  See  also  the  negotiations  between  the  Chcro- 
kees  and  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  States,  communicated  to 
Congress  by  the  President,  March  30th,  1824. 

f  This  treaty  was  made  July  2d,  1*191.  See  also  the  treaty  of 
Telico,  October  2d,  1798. 


INAUGURAL    DISCOURSE.  81 

religion.  There  seems  to  be  no  bounds  to  the  expansion 
of  your  population.  Remove  us  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
in  a  few  years  you  will  surround  us ;  drive  us  beyond  the 
mountains  to  the  great  western  ocean,  you  will  follow  us 
there,  and  the  impossibihty  of  a  further  flight  will  be  the 
only  limit  of  our  miserable  pilgrimages.* 

If  this  is  no  exaggerated  picture,  it  becomes  a  matter 
of  grave  consideration  to  ascertain  the  course  which  ought 
to  be  pursued  by  us. 

We  may  consider  the  Cherokees,  for  of  them  alone  I 
speak  at  present,  as  an  independent  nation  found  by  us 
in  possession  of  the  soil  on  which  they  are  now  seated. 
We  have  seen  them  relinquish  the  ancient  wild  habits  of 
the  chase,  and  adopt  the  usages  of  civilized  men ;  we  have 
led  them  to  the  change ;  we  have  taught  them  the  arts, 
supphed  them  with  the  materials,  and  exhorted  them  to 
the  essay.  Towards  us,  they  are  peaceable  and  friendly ; 
to  all  foreign  nations,  they  are  inaccessible  :  we  have, 
therefore,  nothing  to  fear  from  them. 

Why  should  we  deny  to  them  the  full  benefit  of  the 
unchecked  tide  of  civihzation?  Why,  with  boundaries 
distinctly  marked  and  solemnly  guaranteed,  should  not 
the  white  population  be  content  to  occupy  what  the 
Indians  have  already  given  up  ? 

The  little  spot  retained  by  the  Cherokees  is  all  they 


*  The  Creeks,  in  1824,  observed,  that  encroachments  are  making 
on  their  lands  ;  and  what  assurances  (they  ask)  have  we  that  similar 
ones  will  not  be  made  on  us  hereafter,  if  we  accept  your  offer  and 
remove  beyond  the  Mississippi?  See  Report  of  Secretary  of  War, 
February  5th,  1825. 
6 


82  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

desire;  and  when  they  send  their  ambassadors  to  our 
government,  imploring  us  to  leave  them  in  possession  of 
their  own,  when  we  compare  the  humility  of  their 
entreaties  with  the  justice  of  their  claim,  we  cannot  but 
wish,  for  the  honor  of  our  country,  that  they  may  not  be 
heard  in  vain.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  that  the  United 
States  will  be  less  happy  or  much  less  powerful  if  this  small 
fragment  is  suffered  to  remain  with  its  rightful  owners. 

Against  such  procedures  may  be  set  in  striking  con- 
trast, another  and  very  recent  instance  of  the  dignified 
and  benevolent  course  of  the  United  States,  when  left  to 
act  on  their  own  impulse.  Instead  of  fomenting  and 
encouraging,  among  the  nations  of  the  Northwest,  those 
internal  wars  which  would  accelerate  their  mutual  de- 
struction, we  have  undertaken  and  succeeded  in  the 
arduous  task  of  reconciling  them  to  each  other ;  and  five 
powerful,  and  once  exasperated  tribes,  will  remember 
with  gratitude  the  philanthropic  exertions  of  Governor 
Clarke,  and  look  with  delight  on  the  grave  of  their  war 
hatchet,  the  Prairie  des  chiens. 

Gentlemen  : 

I  have  thus  briefly  submitted  to  you  some  general 
views  of  the  objects  of  our  Association. 

It  is  possible  that  it  may  hereafter  be  found  expedient 
to  enlarge  the  classes  of  particular  inquiry. 

The  manner  in  which  America  was  originally  peopled, 
may  perhaps  ever  remain  a  mystery.  It  has  exercised 
the  talents  of  more  persons  in  Europe  than  in  this 
country,  although  one  might  suppose  that  we  who  are  on 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  83 

the  spot  have  better  means  of  information  and  stronger 
motives  for  inquiry. 

It  does  not  fall  within  the  designated  functions  of  the 
committee  last  mentioned. 

Another  committee  might  be  appointed  to  collect  facts 
not  generally  known  in  relation  to  our  conflicts  with 
Great  Britain.  Time  has  swept,  and  daily  sweeps  away 
many  of  the  actors,  and  the  memory  of  many  of  their 
acts ;  but  much  might  still  be  collected  to  increase  the 
materials  of  history. 

We  have  assigned  to  different  committees  the  medical, 
the  juridical,  and  the  hterary  history  of  Pennsylvania. 
One  of  the  beautiful  features  of  our  Constitution  has 
always  been  the  equality  of  religious  opinions.  Its  theo- 
logical history  would  evince  whether  this  has  been  an 
illusive  theory,  or  whether  it  has  been  carried  into  prac- 
tical and  beneficial  effect.  ■  And  if  a  comprehensive  and 
judicious  view  was  exhibited  of  its  features  and  results, 
it  might  afford  a  salutary  lesson  to  those  foreign  powers 
that  still,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  uphold  and  enforce 
the  right  of  man  to  interfere  between  the  creature  and 
the  great  Creator. 

This  Association  is  not  confined  to  one  sex.  Those  to 
whom  society  is  in  every  respect  so  much  indebted, — who 
confer  on  hfe  its  finest  feUcities,  and  who  soften  and  allay 
the  bitterness  of  adversity ;  whose  attainments  in  science 
are  only  less  frequent  because  they  are  habituated  to  con- 
tent themselves  within  the  sphere  of  domestic  duties,  but 
who  have  so  often  shown  that  occasion  alone  is  wanting 
for  advances  to  the  highest  rank  of  mental  improvement. 
— they  are  not  excluded. 


84  INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE. 

On  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  we  have  fewer  evidences 
of  female  literature  than  in  Europe.  But  there  can  be 
no  pretence  for  supposing  an  inferiority  of  intellect.  We 
must,  therefore,  account  for  it  from  a  difference  of 
manners.  The  simplicity  of  early  colonization  has  not 
yet  been  wholly  worn  out.  The  wife,  the  daughter,  or 
the  sister,  have  still  been  contemplated,  like  the  Lares  of 
ancient  mythology,  as  only  the  guardians  and  the  orna- 
ments of  a  sacred  home.  But  without  abridging  these 
endearing  characters,  the  wife,  the  daughter,  and  the 
sister,  may  be  admitted  and  encouraged  to  cultivate  many 
branches  of  literature ;  to  partake  in  the  highest  employ- 
ments of  mind,  and  often  to  assist  and  sometimes  to  lead 
in  the  pursuit  and  progress  of  the  most  exalted  science. 

In  relation  to  the  subjects  embraced  by  this  Association, 
the  co-operation  of  the  female  sex  seems  particularly  desir- 
able. Generally  superior  to  man  in  closeness  of  attention  and 
retentiveness  of  memory,  many  of  them  are  living  records, 
— sources  of  knowledge  which  inquiry  mil  seldom  exhaust. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  only  to  express  an  ardent  hope, 
that  this  Society  will  not,  like  too  many  others,  be 
marked  only  by  vivacity  of  inception,  apathy  of  progress, 
and  prematureness  of  decay. 

In  the  variety  of  its  objects,  something  may  be  found 
to  interest  every  one. 

The  treasury  of  literature  is  grateful  for  the  widow's 
mite.  Let  all  contribute  what  they  can,  and  they  will 
contribute  what  they  ought.  Let  no  opportunity  be  lost 
for  throwing  into  the  common  stock,  not  only  what  may 
be  collected  of  times  that  are  past,  but  whatever  may  be 
of  interest  in  relation  to  time  that  is  present. 


INAUGURAL     DISCOURSE.  85 


ADDITIONAL   NOTES. 


•  Note,  page  49.  Neither  William  Penn  nor  Robert  Barclay  were 
educated  at  Seminaries  established  by  the  Society.  They  both 
became  converts  at  mature  age.  Barclay,  with  paternal  concurrence. 
Penn,  greatly  to  the  displeasure  of  his  father.  The  observations  in 
the  text  are,  therefore,  to  be  understood  as  applying  to  the  reception 
which  works  of  this  character  meet  among  the  Friends,  and  not  to 
the  sources  whence  the  literary  knowledge  was  derived. 

Note,  page  56.  The  lines  between  quotation  marks  are  from  a  com- 
munication made  to  me  by  one  of  the  members  of  the  Committee. 

Note,  page  69.  My  respectable  friend  Judge  Lyman,  of  Povidence, 
who  happened  to  be  present  at  the  delivery  of  this  Discourse,  has 
favored  me  with  the  following  note,  which  shows  that  before  the 
banishment  of  Roger  Williams,  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Plymouth 
Colony  had,  like  himself,  sound  impressions  of  the  Indian  rights. 

The  island  afterwards  called  "  Rhode  Island  was  purchased  of  the 
Indian  Chief  Miantonomo,  in  the  year  1639-40,  by  a  number  of  gen- 
tlemen from  Boston  of  great  respectability.  They  divided  it  among 
themselves,  and  formed  their  first  settlement  on  the  Northern  part. 
After  a  few  years,  they  removed  and  settled  at  Newport,  which  has 
been  the  capital  of  the  State  ever  since." 


MEMOIE 

ON  THE 

LOCALITY  or  THE  GREAT  TREATY 

BETWEEN 

WILLIAM  PENN 

AND    THE 

INDIAN    NATIVES, 

IN  1682. 

Read  hefore  tJie  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania^ 
September  19th,  1825. 

BY   ROBERTS  VAUX. 


(87) 


M  E  M  0  I E 


ON    IHB 


LOCALITY  OF  PENN'S  TEEATY.* 


No  transaction  connected  with  the  settlement  of  Penn- 
sylvania, has  higher  claims  upon  the  respect  of  those  who 
are  interested  in  her  early  annals,  than  the  first  treaty 
which  was  concluded  between  the  pacific  founder  and  the 
Indian  natives,  in  1682.  That  compact  was  not  more 
distinguished  for  its  justice  and  generosity  than  for  the 
fidehty  with  which  it  was  observed  by  the  contracting 
parties  and  their  descendants,  for  upwards  of  half  a 
century  after  its  ratification. 

*  No  topic  connected  with  the  History  of  Pennsylvania  has  been 
more  thoroughly  investigated  than  that  which  forms  the  subject  of 
this  paper.  But  the  Society,  believing  that  neither  the  question  of 
the  Site,  nor  the  nature  of  the  Treaty,  had  been  settled  beyond  con- 
troversy, appointed  Mr.  Peter  S.  Du  Ponceau  and  Mr.  J.  Francis 
Fisher  to  report  upon  a  communication  from  Mr.  John  F.  Watson, 
entitled  "  The  Indian  Treaty  for  the  Lands  now  the  Site  of  Phila- 
delphia and  the  adjacent  country."  These  gentlemen,  after  great 
care  and  research,  prepared  a  History  of  the  Treaty,  which  is  to  be 
found  in  the  third  volume  of  the  Memoirs. 

The  examination  did  not,  however,  rest  here,  but  the  subject  was 

(89) 


90  MEMOIR     ON     TUE 

The  negotiation  itself,  in  all  its  features,  has  no  parallel 
in  history.  A  few  defenceless  men  holding  council  in  the 
midst  of  the  wilderness,  with  chiefs  and  warriors  and 
assembled  tribes  of  aborigines,  whose  numbers  and  dis- 
positions could  not  have  been  known,  was  surely  a  novel 
experiment.     Yet  such  was  the  purity  of  their  character, 

again  discussed  in  the  Address  of  Mr.  Granville  John  Penn,  and  the 
Reply  of  Mr.  H,  D.  Gilpin,  on  the  occasion  of  the  presentation  by  the 
former  "  of  (to  quote  his  words)  the  Belt  of  Wampum  which  was 
given  to  the  Founder  of  Pennsylvania  by  the  Indian  Chiefs,  after  his 
arrival  in  this  country,  confirmatory  of  the  friendly  relations  which 
were  then  permanently  established  between  them."  (Yol.  VI.,  of 
Memoirs.) 

The  question  of  the  Site  of  the  Treaty  still  remain*  a  matter  of 
tradition ;  no  positive  proof  has  been  afforded,  and  perhaps  can  never 
be  presented. 

Some  have  expressed  surprise  that  a  fact  so  interesting  should 
'not  have  been  established  by  the  recorded  testimony  of  Penn  or 
of  his  cotemporaries.  Tradition,  as  we  remarked,  has  fixed  the  very 
spot  of  the  occurrence.  That  it  took  place  under  the  great  Elm,  is 
the  accepted  conclusion ;  although,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  there  were 
trees  upon  the  spot  even  more  ancient  than  this,  which  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  years  old  in  1682. 
Only  positive  proof  to  the  contrary  would  at  this  day  dislodge 
the  general  belief.  But  if  it  was  under  this  particular  tree  that 
the  Treaty  was  made,  and  not  under  a  grove,  which  perhaps 
stood  around  it,  why  is  the  circumstance  not  recorded  somewhere  ? 
that  the  history  of  a  tree  so  celebrated  should  have  been  traditional, 
when  that  of  many,  no  more  famous,  is  established  by  abundant 
recorded  testimony?  Nor  can  we  understand  why  the  Indians,  in 
their  numerous  subsequent  conferences,  and  with  which  our  annals 
are  filled,  —  a  race  so  strong  in  their  feelings  of  association,  in 
their  fondness  for  designating  places  and  streams  the  most  insig- 
nificant, so  apt  to  draw  their  illustrations  from  material  objects, — 
should  not,  in  speaking  of  their  great  father,  Penn,  and  his  great 
Treaty  with  them,  have  pointed  to  this  Tree  as  the  living  embodi- 
ment and  proof  of  an  event  on  which  they  so  much  loved  to  dwell. — 
Editor. 


LOCALITY     OF     PENN's     TREATY.  91 

and  the  magnanimous  quality  of  their  aims,  that  the 
naturally  untamed  and  misgiving  tempers  of  the  sons  of 
the  forest  were  checked  and  meliorated  in  the  presence 
of  Penn  and  his  companions ;  and  the  negotiations  were 
conducted,  on  the  part  of  the  natives,  in  a  spirit  of 
candor  and  gentleness,  which  might  be  advantageously 
followed  in  the  diplomatic  discussions  of  more  pohshed 
nations. 

This  primitive  act,  on  the  part  of  the  lawgiver   of 
Pennsylvania,  has  received  the  warmest  applause  of  the 
wise   and   good,  and    the    poet    and  the    painter    have 
employed  their  genius  in  celebrating  it  in  the  charms  of 
verse,  and  by  the  graphic  and  glowing  illustrations  of  the 
pencil.     The  precise  spot  where  this  deed  of  concord  was 
sealed  cannot  fail  to  be  an  object  of  deep  interest  to  the 
present  and  for  all  succeeding  generations.      Tradition 
tells  us,  that  the  treaty  of  1682  was  held  at  Shacka- 
maxon,  under  the  wide-spread  branches  of  the  great  Ehn 
Tree  which  grew  near  the  margin  of  the  Delaware,  and 
which  was  prostrated  during  a  storm,  in  the  year  1810. 
Some   doubts,  however,   have   been   recently   suggested, 
which  are  calculated  to  unsettle  the  long-received  opinion 
that  Kensington  was  the  scene  of  the  memorable  negotia- 
tion ;  and,  as  the  only  mark  by  which  the  locaUty  was 
designated  is  removed,  it  is  probable  that  the  lapse  of 
time,  with  other  concurrent  circumstances,  may  hereafter 
render  the  fact  equivocal,  and  perhaps  cast  over  it  the 
veil  of  oblivion,  should  the  evidence  which  remains  pass 
away  uncollected  and  unrecorded. 

Those  who  have  speculated  upon  this  matter  allege, 


92  MEMOIRONTIIE 

that  the  treaty  took  place  at    Upland  or   Chester,  the 
interesting  theatre  where  the  "  Great  Lai')"  was  given, 
and  where  the  first  Assembly  of  the  representatives  of 
the   freemen  of  Pennsylvania   convened  soon  after  the 
arrival  of  the  founder,  in  1682,     I  have  sought  in  vain 
for  proof  to  sustain  this  position ;  and  if  testimony  were 
wanting  to  estabUsh  the  place  of  the  treaty  to  have  been 
at  Shackamaxon,  the  probabilities  are  all  against  Upland. 
The  Swedes  had  been  in  possession  of  the   country 
upon  the  Delaware,  and  many  settlements  were  formed, 
from  the  bay  to  some  distance  northwardly  of  Tinicum 
Island,  several  years  before  the  grant  of  Charles  II.  to 
"William  Penn ;  and  although  those  worthy  people  gene- 
rally maintained  a  good  understanding  wdth  the  natives, 
they  nevertheless   deemed   it   proper  to   adopt   warlike 
modes  of  defence  against  any  surprise  or  descent  upon 
their   habitations.      Block-houses   and   other    means   of 
resistance  were,  therefore,  established  at  various  points 
on  the  territory  occupied  by  the  Swedes,  and  Upland  was 
within  the  fortified  Hmits.     For  the  convenience  of  the 
European  inhabitants  who  were  to  become  the  subjects 
of  his  government,  and  whom  Penn  found  on  the  soil 
when  he  arrived,  was  no  doubt  the  reason  why  Uplaiid 
was  adopted  as  the  temporary  capital  of  the  province; 
but  no  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  character  and  pur- 
poses of  the  benevolent  ruler,  will  suspect  his  discernment 
or  question  the  consistency  of  his  pacific  principles,  by 
supposing  that  he  would  have  asked  the  natives  to  treat 
with   him   at   a   place  which  was  protected  hy  military 
jposts! 


LOCALITY    OF     PENN's     TREATY.  93 

The  following  letters,  whilst  they  go  to  confirm  the 
opinion  that  Chester  was  not  the  treaty  ground,  also 
support  the  tradition  concerning  its  having  been  at 
Shackamaxon.  They  are  likewise  highly  interesting 
and  valuable,  on  account  of  the  historical  information 
which  is  incidentally  communicated  by  their  venerable 
authors. 

My  Respected  Friend: 

After  asking  thy  excuse  for  so  long  delaying  to  answer 
thy  letter  of  the  5th  inst.,  and  which  was  partly  occa- 
sioned by  my  desire  to  furnish  thee  from  the  papers  in 
our  possession,  with  some  evidence  that  the  original 
treaty  was  held  at  Shackamaxon,  under  the  shade  of  the 
venerated  Elm,  which  I  have  no  doubt  was  really  the 
case,  notwithstanding  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  find 
the  casual  mention  of  the  circumstance  in  our  papers,  for 
it  would  probably  have  only  been  casual,  James  Logan 
not  attending  the  Proprietor  until  his  second  voyage 
hither.  The  family  of  Penn  in  England  could,  I  should 
suppose,  furnish  proof  of  the  place  where  this  transaction, 
so  honorable  to  their  illustrious  ancestor,  was  held,  to- 
gether with  many  other  particulars  highly  gratifying  to 
those  w^ho  delight  to  look  back  upon  the  infancy  of  our 
State, — ^for  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  they  possess  a  very 
great  mass  of  information  on  every  subject  connected  with 
the  establishment  of  the  colony. 

I  never  could  account  for  the  propensity  of  some  to 
unsettle  every  received  opinion,  either  on  subjects  which, 
though  speculative,  are  of  the  highest  importance  to  the 


94  MEMOIR    ON    THE 

comfort  us  well  as  to  the  well-being  of  every  iiidhidual, 
and  to  society ;  or  on  those  minor  topics,  which,  like  the 
present  instance,  have  afforded  so  much  innocent  satis- 
faction in  consecrating,  as  it  were,  a  local  spot,  sacred  to 
the  recollection  of  the  dignity  of  moral  virtue.  But,  in 
the  present  instance,  I  believe  they  have  nothing  on 
which  to  found  their  opinion,  that  the  first  treaty  w^as 
held  at  Chester.  My  honored  mother  was  born  near  to 
that  town,  and  passed  the  first  part  of  her  life  there ;  was 
well  acquainted  with  its  oldest  inhabitants,  some  of  whom 
had  been  contemporaries  of  William  Penn,  and,  I  may 
add,  was  well  qualified,  from  her  inquiring  mind  and 
excellent  memory,  to  have  known  such  a  tradition,  had 
it  existed,  which  she  would  have  treasured  up  and  often 
mentioned,  with  that  of  the  proprietor's  residence  at 
Robert  Wade's,  during  his  first  visit.  The  dwelUng 
which  was  thus  honored  was  called  "  Essex  House,"  and 
stood  on  the  other  side  of  Chester  Creek.*  Its  very  ruins 
have  long  disappeared,  and  only  two  or  three  pine  trees 
mark  the  spot ;  and  I  have  formerly  seen  a  ball  and  vane 
which  had  belonged  to  the  old  building  and  had  been 
preserved  by  some  of  the  descendants  of  Robert  Wade, 


*  Mr.  John  M.  Broomall,  of  Chester,  became  the  owner  of  the 
premises  on  which  stood  the  "  Essex  House,"  and  has  erected,  on  a 
portion  of  the  site,  a  dwelling.  In  the  progress  of  the  work  he  dis- 
covered that  the  old  well  attached  to  the  mansion  had  been  filled  up. 
He  restored  it,  and  the  water  from  it  is  now  used.  The  Historical 
Society,  in  1852,  celebrating,  at  Chester,  the  169th  Anniversary  of 
the  Landing  of  Penn  at  that  place,  visited  this  interesting  spot  in  a 
body,  and  planted  a  tree  where  once  grew  that  to  which  the  "  TTel- 
come  "  is  said  to  have  been  moored. — Editor. 


LOCALITY     OF     PENN's     TREATY.  95 

wlio  (I  have  heard)  were  enjomed  by  the  will  of  some  of 
the  family  to  do  so,  in  a  hope  of  the  mansion's  being 
rebuilt,  when  they  were  to  be  again  replaced  on  its 
turret. 

I  hope,  my  kind  friend,  thee  will  excuse  the  irrelative- 
ness  of  the  above  to  the  question  respecting  the  scene  of 
the  treaty,  which  had  it  been  at  Upland  (now  Chester), 
I  think  there  is  no  doubt  but  it  would  have  furnished  an 
article  in  the  Swedish  records.  We  were  once  in  posses- 
sion of  a  book  of  the  records  of  the  courts  held  under 
their  government  prior  to  the  arrival  of  Wilham  Penn, 
which  (if  I  remember  aright)  my  dear  Dr.  Logan  gave 
into  the  hands  of  the  late  Samuel  White,  Esq.,  of  Dela- 
ware, to  place  in  the  archives  of  that  State. 
I  am,  with  great  respect, 

thy  affectionate  friend, 

D.  LOGAN. 

Stenton,  29th  5th  mo.,  1825. 
Roberts  Vaux,  Esq. 

Philadelphia,  19th  May,  1825. 
Dear  Sir: 

The  Swedish  writings  mention  the  treaty  of  Penn  with 
the  Indians,  and  their  great  respect  for  him ;  but  nothing 
as  to  the  locahty.  Circumstances  make  it  highly  pro- 
bable that  it  was  held  at  (now)  Philadelphia,  as  being 
pretty  far  into  the  country,  and,  by  its  site,  destined  for 
a  capital.  The  first  Assembly  being  held  at  Chester  is 
not   an   argument   for   its   having    been   there,   because 


96  MEMOIR    ON     THE 

Indian  concerns  could  not  heave  been   objects  pre\dou3 
to  many  inquiries  about  them. 

If  a  monument  is  to  be  erected,  Philadelphia  is,  un- 
doubtedly, the  proper  place. 

Your  respectful  servant 
and  friend, 

NICIIOL.  COLLIN. 
Egberts  Vaux,  Esq. 


Belmont,  September  6th,  1825. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

At  your  request,  but  with  much  diffidence  as  to  the 
subject  you  mentioned,  to  wit,  the  place  of  holding  the 
first  grand  treaty  with  the  Indians  by  "William  Penn,  I 
can  only  say,  that  from  early  youth  to  this  day,  I  have 
always  miderstood  and  beheve  that  the  treaty  in  1682 
was  held  at  Shackamaxon,  now  Kensington.  When  a 
boy,  I  have  resorted  to  the  great  Elm  Tree,  opposite  the 
house  in  which  President  Pahner  resided,  in  olden  times ; 
and  have  always  confided  in  the  then  uncontradicted 
tradition,  that  under  that  tree  the  treaty  was  held.  THe 
place  had  been  an  Indian  village,  but  one  less  in  import- 
ance than  a  settlement  opposite  thereto,  at  now  Cooper's 
Point,  in  New  Jersey,  where  a  very  large  village  or  town 
had  been.  Indian  graves,  arrows,  stone  axes,  orna- 
mental trinkets,  cooking  vessels,  and  every  indication  of 
Indian  residence,  were  found  on  both  sides  of  the  Dela- 
ware ;  but  on  the  eastern  side,  in  the  greatest  plenty.  I 
never  heard  at  that  time  of  day,  nor  since,  that  the  fact 


LOCALITY     OF     PENN's     TREATY.  97 

was  disputed,  until  you  now  infonn  me  that  doubts  exist 
on  the  subject. 

I  can  only  relate  my  early  impressions,  which  were 
those  of  my  cotemporaries.  I  had  the  most  authentic 
opportunities  of  knowing  Indian  history,  and  the  trans- 
actions between  the  proprietaries  of  Pennsylvania  with 
the  Indians,  my  uncle,  Richard  Peters,  having  been 
during,  I  beUeve,  thirty-five  or  forty  years,  the  Secretary 
of  the  province  and  the  confidential  agent  of  the  proprie- 
taries. I  was  much  acquainted  with  his  official  duties, 
and  had  access  to  the  office  papers.  He  had  the  chief 
concern  in  the  Indian  Department;  and  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  I  could  have  put  any  question  relative  to 
treaties  or  other  Indian  afiairs  at  rest,  in  my  early  life. 
But  now  I  can  only  recall  past  impressions ;  and  those, 
as  to  the  point  in  question,  have  uniformly  been  as  I  have 
stated. 

WiUiam  Penn  was  one  of  uncommon  forecast  and 
prudence  in  temporal  concerns.  You  will  see  in  his 
Biography,  page  121,  Vol.  I.,  that  he  had  the  precaution 
in  the  8th  month,  1681  (in  the  fall  of  which  year  he 
arrived  in  the  Delaware),  to  write  from  London  a  most 
friendly  and  impressive  letter  to  the  Indians,  calculated 
to  prepare  the  way  for  his  arrival  among  them  in  his 
province.  No  doubt,  and  I  think  I  remember  the  early 
impression  I  had,  that  he  pursued  such  cautionary 
measures  on  his  first  coming  into  Pennsylvania.  You 
wiU  see,  in  the  same  book,  in  Vol.  11.,=^  that  he  gives  a 

*  Penn's  Works,  in  2  Vols.,  printed  in  1126. 
7 


98  MEMOIRONTIIE 

minute  account  to  his  friends  in  England,  of  the  Indians 
in  1G83 ;  and  says,  that  he  had  made  himself  master  of 
their  language,  so  as  not  to  need  an  interpreter.  This 
shows  a  familiar  and  frequent  intercourse  with  them.  I 
was  pleased,  in  the  same  letter,  to  see  that  our  wise  pre- 
decessors used  oxen  and  not  horses  in  their  ploughs.  I 
wish  the  present  race  of  farmers  were  equally  and  gene- 
rally as  wise  and  economical.  The  crops  were  then  more 
abundant  than  in  our  days.  From  one  bushel  of  barley 
sown,  they  reaped  forty,  often  fifty,  and  sometimes  sixty. 
Three  pecks  of  w^heat  sowed  an  acre.  All  this  is,  to  the 
point  in  hand,  but  in  favorite  interlude.  He  gives  also 
an  account  of  the  native  grapes,  which  he  eulogizes,  and 
announces  his  intention  to  estabHsh  a  vineyard.  Peaches 
were  in  great  plenty  among  the  natives,  and  very  good. 

He  gives  an  account  of  the  Dutch  and  Swedish  settlers, 
between  whom  there  was  much  jealousy.  It  is  well 
kno'vvn  that  both  of  these  settlers  established  forts  for 
their  defence  against  the  natives,  and  probably  to  over- 
awe each  other.  The  Dutch  deemed  the  Swedes  and 
Finns  intruders.  The  first  inhabited  the  lands  on  the 
bay ;  and  the  Swedes  "  the  freshes  of  the  river  Delaware," 
as  high  as  Wicacoa,  within  half  a  mile  of  Philadelphia. 

It  appears  that  the  seat  of  his  government  was  first 
at  Upland  or  Chester,  where  several  of  his  letters  are 
dated.  Now  I  have  always  understood  that  Talks  with 
the  Indians,  preparatory  to  a  final  arrangement  by  a  con- 
clusive treaty,  were  held  at  Upland  or  Chester.  But  it  is 
almost  indisputably  probable,  if  general  tradition  did  not 
confirm  the  fact,  that  WiUiam  Penn  chose  to  hold  this 


LOCALITY     OF     PENN's     TKEATY.  99 

treaty  beyond  the  reacli  of  any  jealousy  about  the 
neighborhood  of  fortified  places,  ^nd  within  the  hues  of 
his  province,  far  from  such  places,  and  at  a  spot  which 
had  been  an  Indian  settlement,  familiar  to  and  esteemed 
by  the  natives;  and  where  neither  Swedes  nor  Dutch 
could  be  supposed  to  have  influence,  for  with  them  the 
Indians  had  bickerings.  This  ^dew  of  the  subject  gives 
the  strongest  confirmation  to  the  tradition  of  the  treaty 
being  held  at  Kensington;  and  the  Tree  so  much  hal- 
lowed, afforded  its  shade  to  the  parties  in  that  important 
transaction.  The  prudent  and  necessary  conferences  or 
talks,  preparatory  to  the  treaty,  if  any  vestiges  of  them 
now  remain,  may  have  given  the  idea  that  the  treaty  was 
held  at  Upland. 

The  name  and  character  of  William  Penn,  denominated 
by  the  Indians  Onas,  was  held  in  veneration  through  a 
long  period,  by  those  who  had  opportunities  of  knowing 
the  integrity  of  his  dealings  and  intercourse,  especially 
by  the  /Six  Nations,  who  considered  themselves  the 
masters  of  all  the  nations  and  tribes  with  whom  he 
had  dealings  in  his  time,  and  his  successors  thereafter 
who  adhered  to  the  pohcy  and  justice  practised  by  him. 
At  Fort  Stamoix,  fifty-seven  years  ago,  I  was  present 
when  the  Delawares  and  Slmwanese  were  released  by  the 
Iroquois  or  Six  Nations  (originally  five)  from  the  subor- 
dination in  which  they  had  been  held  from  the  time  of 
their  having  been  conquered.  The  ceremony  was  caUed 
"talcing  of  the  petticoat"  and  was  a  curious  spectacle. 
When  I  was  adopted  into  the  family  of  a  Tuscarora  chief, 
at  the  time  of  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  he  made  to  me 


100  MEMOIR     ON     THE 

a  speech,  in  the  style  used  on  such  occasions,  in  which 
he  assured  me  of  his  a^ection ;  and  added,  that  he  was 
pleased  with  my  being  "o/ie  of  tlie  yrmng  jyeaple  of  tlie 
country  of  tlie  vMrnli  resrpected  and  highly  esteemed  Onas" 
which  means  a  quill  or  pen.  He  gave  to  me  one  of  his 
names — Tegochtias.  He  had  been  a  celebrated  warrior, 
and  had  distinguished  himself  on  expeditions,  toilsome 
and  dangerous,  against  the  Southern  Indians.  The 
feathers  and  desicated  or  preserved  birds,  called  by  the 
Indians  Tegochtias,  i.  e.,  Paroquets,  were  brought  home  by 
the  war  parties,  as  Trophies.  The  feathers  decorated  the 
Moccasi7is  (whereof  I  had  a  pair  presented  to  me),  mixed 
with  porcupine's  quills,  in  beautifully  ornamented  work- 
manship. K  there  be  anything  in  my  Indian  name  of 
Paroquet,  ludicrous  in  our  estimation,  I  shall  not  be 
ashamed  of  it,  when  the  great  and  good  Penn  yvas 
denominated,  not  a  whole  bird,  but  merely  a  quill.  My 
moccasiiis  cost  me  an  expensive  return,  in  a  present  the 
ceremony  required;  but  I  considered  the  singular  honor 
conferred  on  me,  richly  deserving  remuneration ;  though, 
in  fact,  I  was  more  diverted  than  proud  in  the  enjoyment 
of  the  amusing  and  curious  scene,  and  had  no  doubt  but 
that  this  expected  remuneration  was  an  ingredient  in  the 
motive  leading  to  my  adoption.  2Iy  nation  is  reduced,  as 
is  all  that  confederacy,  to  a  mere  squad,  if  not  entirely 
annihilated;  though  at  that  time  it  (the  confederacy) 
could  bring  three  thousand  warriors  into  the  field.  One 
race  of  men  seems  destined  to  extinguish  another ;  and, 
if  so,  the  whites  have  amply  fulfilled  their  destiny.  I 
wish,  however,  that  the  present  treaty-makers  had  the 


LOCALITY     OF     PENN'S     TREATY.  lOl 

bust  of  "William  Penn,  made  from  tlie  Elm  Tree,  with  a 
scroll  superscribed  "Penn's  Exemjplary  Treaty,''  constantly 
before  tbeir  eyes.  It  would  be  as  monitory  on  this  part 
of  their  duty,  as  the  portrait  of  Washington  is  exciting  in 
all  others.  The  remaining  aborigines  of  our  country  are 
doomed,  sooner  or  later,  to  the  hke  extinction  their 
departed  predecessors  have  experienced.  If,  in  any 
instance,  they  seem  to  be  stationary, — begin  to  estabhsh 
farms,  and  exercise  civilized  occupations, — they  must  be 
removed  (to  accommodate  an  intruding  white  population) 
to  the  wilderness,  and  recover  their  former  habits.  But 
I  see  William  Penn  adopts  the  idea  that  they  are  of 
Jewish  origin.  And,  if  they  are  of  the  Israehtish  descent, 
it  is  in  the  decrees  of  Providence  that,  like  all  other  Jews, 
they  must  be  homeless  wanderers,  dispersed  throughout 
all  the  regions  of  the  earth.  Even  now,  in  our  day,  a 
portion  of  these  copper-colored  Ishmaslites,  if  so  they  he, 
are  to  be  compelled  to  wander  far  away,  and  leave  their 
cultivated  homes,  to  satisfy  the  sordid  cupidity  of  specu- 
lating land  jobbers.  But  if  their  fate  be,  in  the  im- 
mutable decrees  of  heaven  so  determined,  unworthy 
executioners  often  consummate  judgments. 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

EICHARD  PETERS. 
Egberts  Vaux,  Esq. 


102 


MEMOIR     ON     THE 


Belmont,  November  3d,  1825. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

I  met  my  old  friend  David  H.  Conyngham,  a  day  or 
two  ago.  He  fell  into  conversation  on  olden  times,  and, 
among  other  reminiscences,  the  Elm  Tree  at  Kensington 
was  discussed.  Both  of  us  remembered  our  boyish  amuse- 
ments, and  among  them,  our  bathing  at  the  three  stores, 
and  on  a  sandy  beach  near  the  famous  Elm.  It  stood 
then  majestically  on  a  high  and  clean  bank,  with  a  fine 
area  around  it ;  but,  in  a  later  period,  the  bank  has  been 
washed  away.  His  recollections  and  mine  (earlier  than 
his  by  a  few  years)  go  back  between  sixty  and  seventy 
years.  No  person  then  disputed  the  fact,  that  this  Elm 
was  the  tree  under  which  Penns  Treaty  was  held.  But 
Mr.  Conyngham  remembers,  distinctly,  the  frequent  visit- 
ations of  Benjamin  Lay,^'  to  the  scene  of  our  sports.  He 
was,  as  you  know,  eccentric  and  singular ;  but  not 
deficient  in  understanding  and  chronicling  all  remark- 
able events.  He  must  have  known  some  of  the  con- 
temporaries of  William  Pen?!.  After  dilating  on  the 
worth  and  virtues  of  that  good  man,  and  particularly  as 

*  Benjamin  Lay  came  to  Pennsylvania  in  1731,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-four  years,  less  than  fifty  years  after  Penn's  Treaty  in  1682,  and 
was,  no  doubt,  personally  acquainted  with  individuals  who  knew  the 
fact  of  the  locality  of  that  transaction.  Lay's  benevolent  character 
and  pursuits  were  such  as  to  render  the  tree,  and  the  interesting 
event  connected  with  it,  peculiarly  gratifying  to  him ;  and  as  it  was 
his  constant  practice  to  cultivate  and  cherish,  in  the  minds  of  young 
persons,  a  love  of  truth,  of  justice,  and  of  good  will  to  men,  by 
familiar  and  forcible  illustrations,  I  place  great  confidence  in  the 
accuracy  of  his  knowledge  in  this  respect. — R.  Y. 


LOCALITY     OF     PENN'S     TREATY.  103 

they  applied  to  his  treatment  of  the  natives,  he  would 
call  on  the  boys ;  point  to  the  Elm  Tree;  and  enjoin  on 
them  to  bear  in  mind,  and  tell  it  to  their  children,  that 
under  that  tree  Penns  Treaty  was  held ;  and  they  should 
respect  it  accordingly. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

RICHARD  PETERS. 

Roberts  Vaux,  Esq. 

It  only  remains  for  me  to  exhibit,  what  I  consider  to 
be  satisfactory  proof  for  confirming  the  generally  ad- 
mitted tradition,  that  Shackamaxon  was  the  scene  of 
the  distinguished  transaction  under  notice. 

In  Proud's  History  of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  I.,  p.  211,  it 
is  said,  "  TJw  Proprietary  being  now  returned  from  Mary- 
land to  Goaquanrwckj^  the  j^lace  so  called  by  the  Lidians, 
where  Philadelphia  now  stands,  began  to  purchase  lands 
of  the  natives,  whom  he  treated  with  great  justice  and 
kindness.  At  page  212,  of  the  same  author  and  volume, 
we  also  read,  —  "It  was  at  this  time  (1682),  when 
William  Penn  first  entered  personally  into  that  lasting 
friendship  with  the  Indians  which  ever  after  continued 
between  them." 

Clarkson,  the  biographer  of  Penn,  at  page  264,  Vol.  I., 
Philadelphia  edition,  gives  some  account  of  the  treaty  of 
1682,  and  says, — "It  appears,  that  though  the  parties 
were  to  assemble  at  Coaquannock,  the  treaty  was  made  a 
little  higher  up,  at  Shackamaxon."     The  probable  cause 

*  "The  Grove  of  the  tall  Pine  Trees."— Du  Ponceau. 


101  MEMOIR     ON     THE 

for  this  change  of  the  phice  of  meeting  with  the  Indians, 
was  their  own  convenience,  as  well  as  that  of  the  pro- 
prietor and  those  who  attended  him,  as  a  settlement  had 
been  long  before  made  at  Shackamaxon,  by  the  natives, 
and  by  some  Europeans,'''  three  or  four  years  before  the 
arrival  of  Penn  in  the  province.  The  question  may,  how- 
ever, be  put  at  rest  by  the  following  facts : — Our  cele- 
brated countryman,  the  late  Benjamin  West,  executed, 
in  1775,  an  historical  picture  of  the  Treaty  of  1682, 
which  he  inscribed  to  the  Proprietors  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  original  painting  is  in  the  possession  of  John  Penn, 
Esq.f  One  of  the  five  dignified  individuals,  who  were 
present  with  the  proprietor  at  that  treaty,  was  the  Grand- 
father of  West,  and  the  painter  has  given  a  likeness  of 
his  ancestor,  in  the  imposing  group  of  Patriarchs.     I  hold 


*  They  were  from  West  New  Jersey,  to  which  province  many  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  emigrated  from  Great  Britain  in  IGH. 
William  Penn  was  one  of  the  proprietors,  and  Robert  Barclay,  the 
apologist,  was  Governor  of  that  colony.  Meetings  for  religious 
worship  and  for  conducting  the  affairs  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in 
that  vicinity,  were  held  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Fairland,  at  Shacka- 
maxon, in  1681.  William  Penn  was  the  chief  instrument  in  settling 
West  New  Jersey,  and  the  form  of  government  originally  prepared 
for  it  was  the  product  of  his  highly-gifted  mind.  The  instructions 
given  to  the  eight  Commissioners  sent  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the 
settlement,  expressly  direct  the  purchase  of  lands  from  the  Indians, 
so  that  this  great  principle  of  justice  was  avowed  by  Penn  several 
years  before  his  treaty  of  1682. 

That  Shackamaxon  was  an  ancient  Indian  town,  and  early  known 
to  this  description  of  European  emigrants,  who  ascended  the  Dela- 
ware, is,  I  think,  well  established.  John  Kinsey,  one  of  the  Commis- 
sioners sent  to  organize  the  affairs  of  West  New  Jersey,  died  at 
Shackamaxon,  in  1677,  soon  after  his  landing. 

f  It  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Joseph  Harrison,  Jr.,  and  is  now 
owned  by  that  gentleman. — Editor. 


LOCALITY     OF     PENN'S     TREATY.  105 

this  circumstance  to  be  of  great  authority,  because  West 
had  an  opportunity  of  being  intimately  acquainted  with 
all  the  particulars  of  the  treaty,  and  it  will  not  be  ques- 
tioned that  he  intended  to  perpetuate  a  faithful  narrative 
upon  his  canvas. 

After  the  tree  was  uprooted  by  the  storm  in  1810,  the 
trunk  measured  twenty-four  feet  in  circumference,  and  its 
age  was  ascertained  to  be  two  hundred  and  eighty-tJiree 
years,  having  been  one  liimdred  and  fifty-Jive  years  old  at 
the  time  of  the  treaty.  A  large  piece  of  it  was  sent  by 
our  venerable  townsman,  Samuel  Coates,  to  John  Penn 
of  Stoke  Park,  in  England,  which  he  so  highly  valued  as 
to  cause  it  to  be  placed  on  a  pedestal  in  one  of  the  apart- 
ments of  his  mansion,  with  the  following  inscription 
engraved  on  a  brazen  tablet : 

"  A  remnant  of  the  great  Elm,  under  which  the  Treaty 
was  held  between  William  Penn  and  the  Indians,  soon 
after  his  landing  in  America,  A.D,  1682,  and  which  grew 
at  Kensington,  near  Philadelphia,  till  the  autumn  of  the 
year  1810,  when  it  fell  during  a  storm;  was  presented  to 
his  grandson,  John  Penn,  Esq.  Mr.  West,  who  has  intro- 
duced this  Tree  into  his  celebrated  picture  representing 
the  Treaty,  has  mentioned  a  peculiar  mark  of  respect 
shown  to  it,  in  more  recent  times,  in  the  following 
words : 

"  ^  This  Tree,  which  was  held  in  the  highest  veneration  hy 
tlie  original  inhalntants  of  my  native  coimtry,  hy  tlie  first 
settlers,  and  hy  tlieir  descendants,  and  to  which  I  well  re- 
memher,  about  tlie  year  176b,  wlien  a  hoy,  often  resorting 


lOG  MEMOIR,     ETC. 

with  my  scliOol-feHoiDs  [Jho  .s^xd  ha'uKj  the  favorite  one  for 
assemhliiKj  in  the  hours  of  leisure^,  V)a8  in  some  danger 
durimj  the  American  War  of  1775,  when  the  British  j)OS- 
sessed  the  country,  frcmi  parties  sent  out  in  search  of  wood 
for  firing ;  hut  the  late  General  Simcoe,  who  had  the  com- 
mand of  tlm  district  wltjere  it  grew,  from  a  regard  for  the 
clmracter  of  William  Penn,  and  tJie  interest  which  he  tooh 
in  the  history  connected  with  tJie  Tree,  ordered  a  guard  of 
British  soldiers  to  'protect  it  from  the  axe.  This  circum- 
stance tlie  General  related  to  me  in  answer  to  my  inquiries 
concerning  it,  after  his  return  to  England!  " 

If  the  Society  concurs  in  opinion  with  me,  that  the 
evidence  produced  is  satisfactory,  I  would  suggest  that 
measures  be  put  in  train  for  erecting  a  j^lain  and  sub- 
stantial Ohelish  of  Granite,  near  where  the  tree  formerly 
stood  at  Kensington,  with  appropiate  inscriptions. 


NOTES 


PROVINCIAL  LITERATURE 

OF 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

BY 

THOMAS   I.    WHARTOK 
Bead  at  a  Meeting  of  the  Chwicil,  Septemher  21st,  1825. 


(107) 


NOTES 


ON  THE 


PROVINCIAL  LITERATURE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


The  first  settlers  of  Pennsylvania  were,  chiefly, 
members  of  a  religious  society  which  has  been  sup- 
posed to  decry  and  undervalue  human  learning,  and  to 
place  literature  as  well  as  painting  and  music  on  its 
index  expurgatariiis.  However  truly  this  may  have  been 
said  of  some  of  the  early  teachers  of  that  sect,  certainly 
the  colonif^l  history  of  Pennsylvania  affords  no  materials 
for  the  support  of  the  theory.  It  is  beheved  that  no  one 
of  the  States  of  this  Union  can  exhibit  so  early,  so  con- 
tinued, and  so  successful  a  cultivation  of  letters  as  Penn- 
sylvania. Hardly  had  the  emigrants  sheltered  them- 
selves in  their  huts, — the  forest  trees  were  still  standino; 
at  their  doors,  —  when  they  established  schools  and  a 
printing  press,  to  teach  and  to  be  enlightened :  literally 
inter  silvers  qaerere  verum.  Within  four  years  from  the 
time  that  our  ancestors  landed  in  the  wilderness,  a  prints 


(109) 


110  I'KOVINCIAL     LITEIiATURE 

iiig  jircss  was  at  work  in  Phihidelpliia,  sowing  broadcast 
the  scuds  oi'  knowledge  and  morality :  and  only  a  few 
months  after  the  ari*ival  of  WilHam  Penn,  pubUc  educor 
tion  was  attainable  at  a  small  expense. 

It  appears,  from  the  Journals  of  the  Provincial  Council, 
that  in  December,  1683,  Enoch  Flower  undertook  to 
teach  school  "in  the  town  (as  it  was  then  called)  of 
Philadelphia."  His  charges,  a  record  of  which  is  still 
preserved,  indicate  the  simplicity  of  the  period.  "  To 
learn  to  read  English,  four  shillings  a  quarter  -,  to  write, 
six  shillings,"  &c. ;  "  boarding  a  scholar,  to  wit,  diet,  lodg- 
ing, w^ashing,  and  schooling,  ten  pounds  for  the  whole 
year )"^'  little  more  than  w^hat  is  now  paid  for  a  single 
quarter's  "  schooling"  alone,  in  some  of  our  institutions.  ^ 

Six  years  afterwards,  a  public  school,  or  as  it  would 
now  be  called  a  seminary  or  college,  was  founded  by  the 
Society  of  Friends,  in  this  city.  The  preamble  of  the 
Charter  granted  in  1701,  proves  how  deeply  the  true 
principles  of  morals  and  philosophy  were  anchored  in  the 
minds  of  the  founders  and  rulers  of  Pennsylvania. 
"Whereas,"  it  recites,  "the  prosperity  and  w^elfare  of 
any  people  depend  in  a  great  measure  upon  the  good 
education  of  their  youth,  &c.,  and  qualifying  them  to 
serve  their  country  and  themselves,  by  breeding  them  in 
reading,  writing,  and  learning  of  languages,  and  useful 
arts,  and  sciences,  suitable  to  their  sex,  age,  and  degree, 
w4iich  cannot  be  effected  in  any  manner  so  well  as  by 
erecting  puhllc   schools   for   the   purpose    aforesaid,"    &c. 

*  Proud's  History  of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  I.,  p.  3i5. 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  Ill 

Proud,*  says .  that  the  poor  were  taught  gratis  in  this 
institution.  It  is  curious  and  instructive  to  compare  the 
doctrines  of  this  instrument  with  those  which  had  been 
promulgated  thirty  years  before,  and  were  at  that  time 
acted  upon,  in  a  neighboring  province.  "  I  thank  God," 
said  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  "  We  have  not  free  schools 
nor  printing ;  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  these  hun- 
dred years.  For  learning  has  brought  disobedience  and 
heresy  and  sects  into  the  world;  and  printing  has 
divulged  them  libels  upon  the  government.  God  keep  us 
from  both."-|- 

The  first  preceptor  in  the  Friend's  Public  School  was 
George  Keith,  afterwards  sufficiently  famous.  His  income 
from  this  office  seems  to  be  considerable  for  the  times. 
He  was  allowed  a  salary  of  £50  per  annum,  with  a  house 
for  his  family,  a  school-house,  and  the  profits  of  the  school 
besides  for  one  year.  For  two  years  more  his  school  was 
to  be  made  worth  £120  per  annum.  One  year,  however, 
appears  to  have  been  quite  enough  for  the  restless  spirit 
of  George  Keith.  He  was  succeeded  at  the  expiration 
of  that  time  by  Thomas  Makin,  who  was  at  one  period 
Clerk  to  the  Provincial  Assembly,  and  whose  Besci^i^^tio 
PennsylvanicB,  written  in  1729,  in  Latin  hexameters,  was 
probably  the  first  attempt  to  describe  the  institutions  and 
scenery  of  the  province  in  the  lofty  language  of  Rome. 
The  verse  is  uncouth  enough,  and  if  the  following  notice 
of  the  Friend's  School  be  not  a  sufficient  specimen,  the 
rest  may  be  found  in  Proud's  History  : 

*  Vol.  I.,  p.  344.  f  Chalmers,  Vol.  II.,  p  328. 


112  PROVINCIAL     LITKIi  ATUKE 

"  Hie  in  gymuasiis  lingua)  docentur  et  art§8 
IngcuuiTc  multis  doctor  ct  ipse  fui. 
Una  scbola  hie  alias  ctiam  suporeminet  omnes, 
Romano  ct  Graeco  quae  doeet  ore  loqui." 

Makin,  also,  according  to  Proud/^-  wrote  an  ^^ Encomium 
Binnsijlvaniw"  another  Latin  poem,  in  1728,  which,  with 
the  Descriptio  Penmylvcmice,  was  found  among  the  papers 
of  James  Logan,  in  MS.,  many  years  after  his  death. 
These  poems  are  probably  still  among  the  Logan  Papers, 
and  if  so,  they  may,  perhaps,  be  procured  for  the  collec- 
tion of  our  Society .f 

Printing  (which  the  Governor  of  Virginia  likewise  had 
deprecated  with  so  much  holy  horror)  was  introduced 
into  Pennsylvania  so  early  as  1686.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark  and  remembrance,  that  this  province  was,  com- 
paratively speaking,  far  earlier  than  her  sister  colonies  in 

*  Vol.  II.,  p.  360. 

f  It  appears  there  were  earlier  attempts  at  Poetry,  at  least  in 
English.  Mr.  Horatio  Gates  Jones,  in  his  Essay  on  the  " Bittenhouse 
Paper  Mill,''^  and  to  which  we  shall  more  particularly  refer,  says : 

"  The  first  writer  who  has  referred  to  paper-making  in  America,  is 
Richard  Frame, — one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Pennsylvania, — who 
wrote  a  Poem,  entitled  'A  short  Description  of  Pennsylvania ;  or,  * 
A  Relalion  of  xchat  Things  are  Known,  Enjoyed,  and  like  to  he  Dis- 
covered in  said  Province.'  It  was  printed  at  Philadelphia,  in  1692, 
by  William  Bradford." 

"In  1696,  another  Philadelphia  writer,  —  the  Honorable  John 
Holme  (more  frequently  called  Judge  Holmes),  who  was  one  of 
the  Magistrates  of  the  city,  and  sat  upon  the  Bench  when  William 
Bradford  was  tried  for  publishing  George  Keith's  pamphlet, — also 
wrote  a  Poem,  longer,  and  possessing  much  more  merit  than  Frame's. 
Judge  Holme  refers  to  the  Paper  Mill  as  then  in  existence.  I  may 
here  add  that  Judge  Holme  came  to  Philadelphia,  from  England,  in 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  113 

the  use  of  the  press,  and  consequently  in  the  general  dis- 
semination of  literature.  I  have  already  stated  that  a 
printing  press  was  in  operation  in  Philadelphia  only/owr 
years  after  the  landing  of  Wilham  Penn.  In  Massachu- 
setts, where  learning  and  the  arts  have  been  cultivated 
with  great  success,  printing  was  not  introduced  until 
eighteen  years  after  its  settlement.  In  New  York,  not 
until  seventy-three  years  after  the  settlement ;  and  in  the 
other  colonies,  not  for  a  much  longer  period. 

The  first  printer  who  settled  in  Pennsylvania  was 
Wilham  Bradford,  a  native  of  Leicester,  in  England,  and 
a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  emigrated  in 
1682  or  '3,  and  landed  on  the  spot  where  Philadelphia 
was  soon  afterwards  laid  out,  before  a  house  was  built. 
It  is  believed  that  he  set  up  his  first  jDrinting  press  at 
Kensington,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Treaty  Tree. 
His  earhest  pubhcation  was  an  Almanac,  of  which,  as  it 
is  the  most  ancient  book  printed  in  Pennsylvania,  the 
title  page  may  be  worth  copying : 

1686,  and  was  one  of  the  constituent  members  of  the  Philadelphia 
Baptist  Church.  He  married  the  widow  of  the  Honorable  Nicholas 
More,  who  was  the  first  Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania,  and  whose 
daughter  became  the  wife  of  the  Reverend  Elias  Kcach,  the  first 
Pastor  of  the  Pennepek  or  Lower  Dublin  Baptist  Church.  Judge 
Holme  subsequently  settled  in  Salem,  X.  J. ;  was  one  of  the  Judges 
of  Salem  Court;  and  died  there  about  the  year  1701,  leaving  numer- 
ous descendants.  The  Poem  of  Judge  Holme  bears  no  date ;  but. 
from  internal  evidence  and  my  knowledge  of  early  Baptist  history,  I 
have  satisfied  myself  that  it  was  -vVritten  in  169G.  It  is  styled  'A  True 
Relation  of  the  Flourishing  State  of  Pennsylvania ;^  and  was  never 
published,  so  far  as  I  know,  until  184Y,  when  it  appeared  in  the 
"Bulletin  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania."  (Yol.  I.,  '^o. 
13,  p.  72.)— Editor. 
8 


114  rUOVINClAL     LITKRATURE 

^^An  Almamtcfor  the  year  of  lite  Christian  account  1687, 
particvlarJ?/  rettpecting  the  Meridian  and  Latitude  of  Bur- 
luujfo/i,  Ixil  nxtij  indifferently  serve  all  places  adjarxnt.  By 
Daniel  Leeds,  Student  in  Ayricidture.  Printed  and  sold  hy 
William  Bradford,  near  Philadelphia,  in  Pennsylvania,  Pro 
Anno,  1G87." 

Of  this  first  Pennsylvania  author,  Daniel  Leeds,  I  find 
little  on  record.  He  appears  to  have  espoused  the  prin- 
ciples and  partaken  of  the  fate  of  his  publisher,  Bradford ; 
and  he  left  the  province  a  few  years  afterwards,  carrying 
with  him  no  very  amicable  feelings  towards  the  Society 
of  Friends,  as  the  following  title  page  may  testify :  "  A 
Trumpet  sounded  out  of  the  Wilderness  of  America, 
which  may  serve  as  a  Warning  to  the  Government  and 
People  of  England,  to  beware  of  Quakerism;  wherein  is 
shown  how  in  Pennsylvania  and  there  away,  where  they 
have  the  Government  in  their  own  hands,  they  hire 
and  encourage  men  to  fight;  and  how  they  persecute, 
fine  and  imprison,  and  take  away  goods  for  conscience 
sake.  By  Daniel  Leeds.  Printed  by  WiUiam  Bradford, 
at  the  Bible,  in  New  York,  1699." 

Bradford's  residence  in  Philadelphia  was  short.  He 
engaged  zealously  in  the  Keithian  Controversy ;  unfortu- 
nately for  him,  took  the  side  of  the  minority,  became 
obnoxious,  and  removed  to  New  York  in  1693,  where  he 
died  in  1752,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-four.* 

*  An  account  of  Bradford,  who  died  May  23d,  1752,  aged  eighty- 
nine  years  (not  ninety-four,  as  stated  in  the  text),  having  been  bom 
May  20,  1600  (0.  S.),  may  be  found  in  an  "Address  by  Mr  John 
"William  Wallace,   delivered  at  the  Celebration,  by  the  Xew  York 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  115 

Keligious  controversy  gave  the  first  impulse  to  Litera- 
ture in  Pennsylvania.  It  is  a  fit  subject  for  a  patriotic 
pride,  that  a  drop  of  blood  has  never  been  shed  in  this 
State  in  a  religious  quarrel ;  but  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  the  usual  quantity  of  paper  and  ink  has  been  con- 
sumed on  this  fruitful  subject ;  and,  from  the  dissensions 
of  1691,  down  to  the  Catholic  Controversy  of  1823,  pretty 
much  the  same  sort  of  temper  has  been  exhibited.  The 
disorder  broke  out  in  the  very  infancy  of  our  history. 
George  Keith,  who  has  already  been  spoken  of  as  head 
master  in  the  Friends'  Public  School,  had  no  sooner  been 
installed  in  the  office  of  mending  the  grammar  of  the 
boys,  than  he  set  about  correcting  the  religion  of  their 
parents.  He  maintained  with  great  earnestness,  that  the 
"  Friends,"  now  that  they  had  reached  the  elevation  of 
power,  and  got  into  the  administration  of  affairs,  were, 
like  most  political  aspirants,  disposed  to  turn  their  backs 
upon  the  ladder  by  which  they  had  mounted,  and  had 
adopted  many  of  the  practices  against  which  they  had  so 
vehemently  declaimed ;  and  he  was  for  recalling  them  to 
what  he  did  or  affected  to  consider  the  true  and  ancient 
doctrine.  He  accused  the  principal  functionaries  of  the 
Society  of  spiritual  lukewarmness,  and  denounced  the 
magistrates  (at  that  time  principally  "  Friends")  for  exe- 
cuting the  judgments  of  the  law  upon  malefixctors,  holding 
it  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  genuine  faith  for  a  believer 


Historical  Society,  of  the  200th  Anniversary  of  Bradford's  Birth- 
day." Printed  by  J.  Munsell,  Albany.  Mr.  Wallace  has  collected 
and  skilfully  arranged  all  that,  perhaps,  at  this  day,  can  be  ascer- 
tained about  this  enterprising  man. — Editor. 


116  rUOVINClAL     LITERATURE 

to  draw  the  sword,  even  though  it  be  the  sword  of  justice. 
In  !i  word,  lie  was,  U)  use  the  language  of  the  present 
days, — an  ulfni.  Tn  1G89,  previous  to  his  quarrel  ^v^th 
the  leaders  of  the  "Friends,"  this  active  pamphleteer 
appears  to  have  published  a  tract  against  the  New  Eng- 
land churches,  which  is  said  by  Thoma^s,  in  his  History 
of  Printing,'''  to  have  been  the  first  hooJc  printed  in  Penn- 
sylvania. In  1G90,  he  entered  the  lists  with  Cotton 
Mather,  and  published  two  more  pamphlets  in  vindica- 
tion of  the  Quakers.  The  next  year  saw  the  commence- 
ment of  the  internal  controversy.  Keith,  who  was  a 
public  preacher,  had  given  offence  by  his  Iwterodox  tenets 
(at  least  so  they  were  called  by  the  elders),  and,  as  they 
alleged,  by  his  turbulent  and  overbearing  spirit ;  and  he 
was  accordingly  disowned,  and  denied  the  privilege  of 
speaking  in  the  meetings  of  worship.  Thus  debarred 
from  giving  vent  to  his  opinions,  through  the  accustomed 
channel,  he  sought  that  universal  refuge,  the  press,  from 
which  soon  appeared  several  pamphlets,  reflecting  in  no 
gentle  tone  upon  his  adversaries.  A  prosecution  ensued, 
of  which  the  issue  is  somewhat  differently  narrated. 
Proud  sa}' s,f  that  the  printers  of  these  "  virulent  pieces," 
William  Bradford  and  John  M'Comb,  were  arrested  by 
warrant  from  five  magistrates,  and,  upon  their  refusal  to 
give  security  for  their  appearance  to  answer  for  the  pub- 
lication, were  "nominally"  only  (he  says)  committed, 
never  being  in  confinement,  and  were  soon  discharged, 
without  having  been  brought  to   trial.      On   the   other 


*  Vol.  II.,  p.  9,  10.     A  copy  of  it  is  in  the  possession  of  Thomas, 
t  Vol.  I.,  p.  372. 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  117 

hand,  it  appears,  from  a  pamphlet  published  at  the  time, 
and  from  which  Thomas*  has  given  copious  though  not 
altogether  satisfactory  extracts,  that  they  were  actually 
tried,  after  having  been  a  considerable  time  in  confine- 
ment.f  The  jury,  it  seems,  were  discharged,  having  been 
unable  to  agree,  notwithstanding  a  pretty  decided  charge 
from  the  court,  who,  if  we  may  beheve'the  author  of  the 
pamphlet,  treated  the  prisoners  with  great  harshness. 
They  were  not  tried  again  owing  to  a  singular  circum- 
stance. It  seems  that  the  principal  evidence  against 
Bradford  was  his  own  set  of  types ;  the  frame  containing 
which,  duly  composed  for  printing  the  seditious  pamphlet, 
was  brought  into  court,  a  very  potent  though  dumb  wit- 
ness against  him.  When  the  jury  retired,  they  took  this 
frame  out  with  them,  and  not  being  acquainted  with  read- 
ing backwards,  reading  forward  being  a  considerable  affair 
in  early  times,  one  of  them  attempted  to  place  it  in  a  per- 
pendicular and  more  convenient  situation,  and,  in  so  doing, 
the  types  fell  from  the  frame,  and  so  vanished  the  testi- 
mony for  the  prosecution.  Bradford,  after  being  released 
from  confinement,  went  to  New  York,  where,  as  has  been 
already  mentioned,  he  died. 

Keith's  subsequent  history  is  curious  and  amusing. 
He  drew  off  with  him,  at  first,  a  large  number  of 
"  Friends,"  some  of  them  of  considerable  account  in  the 
Society,  and  persons  of  rank  and  property.  They  called 
themselves  "  Christian  Quakers ;"  and  if  their  leader  had 
possessed  a  decent  command  of  temper  and  consistency 

*  History  of  Printing,  Vol.  II.,  p.  13,  &c. 
%  See  Note  A. 


118  PKOVINCIAL     LITERATURE 

of  purpose,  111!  luiglit  have  made  a  .serious  inroad  on  the 
principal  Society.     He  appears,  however,  to  have  left  the 
province   soon   after   the  ^proceedings  against  him;    and 
little  more  was  heard  of  him  until  the  year  1702,  when 
he  reappeared  upon  the  boards  in  the  new  character  of  a 
minister  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  .missionary  of  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.     In  this  capa- 
city, he  maintained  the  doctrines  of  his  new  faith  with  a 
zeal  and  fervor  little  short  of  what  he  had  exhibited  in 
defence  of  the  primitive  tenets  of  George  Fox,  vehemently 
assailed  the  opinions  of  the  "  Friends"  on  the  subject  of 
baptism  and  the  communion,  and  stoutly  maintained  the 
divine  right  to  tithes,  and  the  necessity  and  excellence 
of  an  hierarchy.     On  his  return  home  to  England,  he 
published  the  result  of  his  travels  as  missionary,  which 
extended  from  New  Hampshire  to  North  Carolina.     The 
book  (a  small  quarto  volume)  is  entitled  "  A  Journal  of 
Travels  from  New  Hampshire  to  Caratuck,  on  the  conti- 
nent of  North  America;   by  George  Keith,  A.M.,  late 
Missionary  of  the    Society  for   the   Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  foreign  parts,  and  now  Rector  of  Edburton,  in 
Sussex."     London,  1706.     It  is  in  the  City  Librarj-,  and 
is  worth  preservation,  as  disj)laying  the  character  of  the 
man,  and  something  of  the  manner  of  the  times.      He 
appears  to  have  been  in  earnest  in  his  new  calling,  riding 
from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other  in  quest  of 
antagonists,    arguing    ^vith    Independents,   Anabaptists, 
Unitarians,  Quakers,  and  Catholics,  each  in  their  tm-n, 
and  giving  no  quarter  to  either,  loving  nothing  so  much 
as  the  hot  water  of  theology,  and  laboring  to  prove  the 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  119 

sincerity  of  his  conversion,  by  the  breadth  of  his  tenets. 
Unfortunately  for  his  love  of  notoriety  and  distinction, 
he  met  with  no  further  persecution ;  and  the  ex  ultra  or 
"  Christian  Quaker,"  now  "  Rector  of  Edburton,  in  Sus- 
sex," was  suffered  to  return  to  England  without  moles- 
tation, either  from  Cotton  Mather  or  Pennsylvania 
justices. 

Although  it  is  the  object  of  these  sketches  to  notice 
only  the  Kterary  works  of  Pennsylvanians,  j)ubUshed 
in  Pennsylvania,  yet  it  seems  not  entirely  irrelative  to 
the  subject  to  revive  the  recollection  of  books  relating  to 
the  province,  though  pubhshed  elsewhere.  In  1698,  was 
printed  in  London,  an  amusing  little  volume,  entitled 

"An  Sisforical  and  Geographical  Accotmt  of  the  JF^^ovince 
and  (Jountrjj  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  West  New  Jersey,  in 
America,  &c.  With  a  Map  of  both  Coimtnes.  By  Gabriel 
Tliomas,  wlio  resided  tliere  about  fifteen  years."  * 

The  author  informs  us  that  he  came  over  to  the  pro- 
vince in  the  first  ship  bound  from  England  here,  since  it 
received  the  name  of  Pennsylvania,  which  was  in  1681, 
and  "  saw  the  first  cellar  where  it  was  digging  for  the  use 
of  our  Governor,  William  Penn."  His  descriptions  are 
certainly  very  flattering  to  the  existing  state  of  the 
colony.  He  paints  everything  couleiir  de  rose,  and  if  his 
book  had  general  circulation  in  England,  it  must  have 

*  This  work  was,  some  years  ago,  reprinted. — Editor. 


120  rnoVINClAL     I.  ITKRAXUIiE 

tended  to  pnxluce  an  extensive  emigration  to  the  Utopian 
colony.  "Philadelphia,"  he  says,  "contains  above  two 
thousand  houses,  all  inhabited,  and  most  of  them  stately, 
and  of  brick,  generally  three  stories  high,  after  the  mode 
in  London,  and  as  many  several  families  in  eacli."  He 
tells  us  of  "  Frankford  River,  near  which  Arthur  Cook 
"hath  a  most  stately  brick  house ;"  of  "  Neshaminy  River, 
where  Judge  Growdon  hath  a  very  noble  and  fine  house, 
very  pleasantly  situated,  and  likewise  a  famous  orchard, 
wherein  are  contained  above  one.  thousand  apple  trees;" 
of  "  Governor  Penn's  great  and  stately  pile,  which  he  has 
called  Pennsbury  House,  covered  wdtli  tilestone"  (I  sup- 
pose slate*)  ;  of  "  Robert  Turner's  great  and  famous 
house,"  in,  the  city ;  and  of  "  Edward  Shippey  (probably 
Shippen),  who  lives  near  the  capital  city,  and  has  an 
orchard  and  gardens  adjoining  to  his  great  house,  that 
equalizes,  if  not  exceeds,  any  I  have  ever  seen."  If  we 
are  to  believe  these  passages,  the  young  colony  had 
attained  no  mean  height  in  luxury.  Of  the  women  of 
our  native  State,  he  says,  "  They  are  usually  married 
before  they  are  twenty  years  of  age ;  and  when  once  in 
that  rwose,  are  for  the  most  part  a  little  uneasy,  and  make 
their  husbands  so  too,  till  they  procure  them  a  maid 
servant  to  bear  the  burden  of  the  work,  as  also  in  some 
measure  to  wait  on  them  too."  And  afterwards,  he  says, 
"Jealousy  among  men  is  very  rare,  and  barrenness 
among  women  hardly  to  be  heai'd  of." 

The  most  favorable  consequences  ensued  (according  to 


*  It  was  covered,  says  Watson,  with  tiles. — Editor. 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  121 

our  worthy  author)  from  these  happy  nuptials.  "The 
children  born  here,"  he  says,  "  are  generally  well  favored 
and  beautiful :  I  never  knew  any  one  come  mto  the  world 
with  the  least  blemish  on  any  part  of  the  body,  being  in 
the  general  observed  to  be  better  natured,  milder,  and 
more  tender  hearted  than  those  born  in  England." 
What  are  called  the  liberal  professions,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  found  little  favor  in  the  eyes  of  honest  Gabriel :  "  Of 
lawyers  and  physicians,  I  shall  say  nothing,  because  the 
country  is  very  peaceable  and  healthy ;  long  may  it  con- 
tinue so,  and  never  have  occasion  for  the  tongue  of  the 
one  or  the  pen  of  the  other,  both  equally  destructive  to 
men's  estate  and  lives ;  besides,  forsooth,  they,  hangman- 
like, have  a  license  to  murder  and  make  mischief."  Nor 
does  literature  seem  to  rank  high  in  his  estimation ;  for 
all  that  the  book  contains  on  the  subject  is  comprised  in 
two  lines  :  "  In  the  said  city,"  saith  Gabriel,  "  are  several 
good  schools  of  learning  for  youth,  in  order  to  the  attain- 
ment of  arts  and  sciences,  as  also  reading,  writing,  &c." 
And  then  in  the  very  same  sentence,  and  in  the  same 
breath,  he  continues,  as  if  they  were  about  the  same 
value,  "  Here  is  to  be  had,  on  any  day  in  the  week,  taiis^ 
jpies,  cakes,  (&c"  "  We  have  also  several  cook  shops,  both 
roasting  and  boiling."  And  finally  concludes  the  compre- 
hensive sentence  with  the  pious  ejaculation,  "Happy 
blessings  (^.  e.  the  learning  and  the  pies),  for  which  we 
owe  the  highest  gratitude  to  Providence."  The  book  is, 
however,  valuable  for  the  illustration  it  afibrds  of  our 
early  annals.  Among  the  trades  of  Philadelphia,  of 
which  a  considerable  list  is  given,  and  which,  he  says, 


122  PROVINCIAL     LITERATURE 

lijive  uU  constiiiil  jiiid  profitable  employment,  I  fmd 
"  printers  and  bookbinders,"  and  several  others  which  one 
would  su])])ose  were  quite  prematurely  introduced.  Bar- 
ton, in  bis  Memoirs  of  Rittenhouse,"^'  speaks  of  the 
establishment  of  a  j^aper  mill  at  Germantown,-|-  about  the 
year  1700,  by  WilUam  Rittenhouse  and  his  son  Nicholas, 
ancestors  of  the  philosopher  j  but  the  making  of  paper 
here  was  still  earlier,  since,  in  1697,  Thomas  says,  "All 
sorts  of  very  good  jDaper  are  made  in  the  German  town." 
In  another  place,  he  says,  "  Two  miles  from  the  metrop- 
olis are  purging  mineral  waters  as  good  as  Epsom." 


The  first  literary  work  (upon  any  other  than  a  religious 
subject)  that  the  press  of  Philadelphia  produced,  was  pub- 
lished in  1699,  with  the  following  quaint  title : 

"  God's  protecting  Providence  man's  surest  Iwlp  and 
defence  in  times  of  the  greatest  difficulty  and  mast  immi- 
nent danger.  Evidenced  in  the  remarhahle  deliverance  of 
divers  jpersons  from  the  devouring  waves  of  the  sea,  amongst 
which  they  suffered  shipwrech;   and   also  from   the   inore 

*  Page  83,  note  5. 

f  The  Paper  Mill  to  wbich  reference  is  made  by  Barton,  was  the 
first  established  in  America,  and  as  early  as  1690,  not  in  Gennan- 
town  but  in  Roxborough  Township,  near  the  Germantown  line,  now 
"  Rittenhouse  Town,"  by  William  Rittenhouse,  William  Bradford, 
Thomas  Tresse,  Robert  Turner,  and  others.  We  are  indebted  for 
these  facts  to  an  Essay,  by  Mr.  Horatio  Gates  Jones,  entitled  "  His- 
torical Sketch  of  the  Rittenhouse  Paper  MiU,''^  recently  read  before 
our  Historical  Society,  and  which,  we  regret  to  say,  has  not  as  yet 
been  published  ;  for  in  it  will  be  found  many  interesting  facts  which 
have  hitherto  been  unmentioned  by  any  writer. — Editor. 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  123 

cruelly  devouring  jaws  of  the  inJmman  Cannihals  of 
Florida.  Faithfidly  related  hy  one  of  the  persons  conr 
cerned  tlierein,  Jonathan  Dickenson.  Printed  in  Philadel- 
phia, hy  Reinier  Jansc/n,  1699." 

A  copy  of  this  curious  volume,  now  become  very  rare, 
is  in  the  City  Library,  but  unfortunately  a  few  of  the  last 
pages  are  wanting.  I  have  read  it  with  a  good  deal  of 
pleasure.  It  is  a  simple  and  unadorned,  but  very  inter- 
esting and  touching  narrative  of  the  adventures  of  a 
number  of  persons,  the  passengers  and  crew  of  a  vessel 
which,  on  a  voyage  from  Jamaica  to  Philadelphia,  were, 
in  September,  1696,  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Florida; 
where  they  fell  into  the  power  of  the  savages,  were 
cruelly  treated  by  them,  and  suffered  from  hunger,  cold, 
and  ill-usage,  almost  unto  death.  By  the  kindness  of 
the  Spanish  Governor  of  St.  Augustine,  they  were 
rescued  from  the  Indians  and  carried  to  that  place, 
where  they  were  received  with  the  most  delicate  hospi- 
tality, and,  having  been  clothed  and  abundantly  provided 
for,  were  sent  to  Carolina,  whence  they  reached  Philadel- 
phia, in  February,  1697.  The  passengers  in  this  unfor- 
tunate vessel  were  twenty-two  in  number,  besides  the 
author,  his  wife  and  child,  only  six  months  old,  whose 
sufferings  during  their  captivity  are  told  in  a  very  affect^ 
ing  manner.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  preface  is 
devoted  to  an  account  of  the  life  and  religious  services  of 
Robert  Barrow,  one  of  the  passengers,  "  a  fiithful  servant 
of  the  Lord,"  as  the  author  (himself  a  zealous  "Friend") 
styles  him.     From  this,  it  appears,  that  he  was  a  native 


124  rUOVlNCIAL     I-ITERATURK 

of  one  of  the  iiortliern  counties  of  England,  was  early  in 
life  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Quaker  doctrines;  and, 
in  1G94,  "  the  spirit  of  God  requiring  him  to  come  over 
into  these  parts  to  preach  the  Gospel,"  he  obeyed  the  call, 
though  Avitli  some  reluctance;  visited  Philadelphia  in  the 
course  of  his  travels,  and,  having  staid  here  a  year  or 
two,  went  to  the  West  Indies ;  and  while  on  his  return, 
met  with  the  calamities  detailed  in  the  book,  and  which 
broke  down  his  constitution.  He  survived,  however,  until 
the  arrival  of  the  vessel  at  Philadelphia,  though  he  was 
in  so  weak  a  state  with  illness  that  they  were  obliged  to 
carry  him  on  a  hammock  to  "  Samuel  Carpenter's  house," 
and  he  lived  only  five  days  afterwards.  He  appears  to 
have  entered  keenly  into  the  religious  controversies  of 
the  times,  for  his  biographer  relates,  that  one  of  his  first 
questions  on  landing,  though  extremely  ill,  was,  "  What 
was  becoming  of  George  Keith's  people."  On  receiving 
the  intelligence  of  their  total  defeat,  he  manifested  a  very 
lively  joy,  and  testified  stoutly  against  the  National 
Church,  the  stipendiary  clergy,  and.  the  militia.  In  this 
edifying  frame  of  mind  he  continued  until  his  death, 
which  took  place  on  the  4th  of  February,  1697. 

Of  Jonathan  Dickinson,  the  author,  Httle  is  learned 
from  his  book  further  than  what  he  tells  us  in  his  preface. 
In  reply  to  a  doubt  which  he  thinks  may  be  suggested  of 
the  authenticity  of  the  narrative,  he  declares  that  "  the 
writer  is  a  man  well  known  in  this  towTi,  of  good  credit 
and  repute,  on  whose  fidelity  and  veracity  those  who 
have  any  knowledge  of  him  will  readily  rely,  without 
suspecting  fallacy."     He  Hved  to  acquire  considerable  dis- 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  125 

tiuction  and  extensive  property.  Our  worthy  ancestors 
seem  to  have  been  equally  heedless  of  the  maxmis  of  politi- 
cal economy  in  respect  to  the  division  of  labor,  and  of  the 
well-estabhshed  truths  of  pohtical  philosophy  in  regard  to 
the  separation  of  the  legislative  and  judicial  branches  of 
the  government ;  for,  in  1781,  we  find  Mr.  Dickinson 
holding,  at  the  same  time,  the  office  of  Chief  Justice  of 
the  province  and  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  to  which,  in 
the  next  year,  he  seems  to  have  siqoer-added  that  of 
Master  in  Cliancery.  Not  long  afterwards,  he  figures  as 
a  member  of  Council,  and  as  a  Commissioner  to  treat 
Tvith  the  Indians  at  Conestoga.  He  was  withal,  to  use 
the  words  of  that  "  honest  chronicler,"  Robert  P)'oud,  '*  A 
merchant  of  considerable  fortune,  and  possessed  a  large 
estate  in  Philadelphia.  He  bore  a  general  good  char- 
acter, was  universally  much  beloved,  and  died  in  the  year 
1722." 

The  appearance  of  the  book  argues  great  deficiency  in 
typograpliical  skill  and  materials.  It  is  wretchedly  exe- 
cuted, and  disfigured  by  constant  blunders.  The  printer, 
who,  by  his  name,  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  Swedish 
settlers,  is  supposed  by  Thomas,*  to  have  acted  as  locum 
tenens  for  Bradford,  at  that  time  in  exile  at  New  York. 
A  second  edition  was  printed  in  1735,  by  a  more  cele- 
brated tj^ographer,  Benjamin  Fkanklin. 


The  year  1719  deserves  particular  remembrance  in  the 
annals  of  Pennsylvania,  as  that  in  which  the  first  news- 

*  History  of  Printing,  Yol.  II. 


1  20  ]'  K  ()  V  I  N  C  I  A  L     L  I  T  K  K  A  T  U  R  E 

paper  wii.s  prink'il  in  the  State.  These  potent  engines 
exercise  so  vast  an  influence  for  good  or  evil  over  men's 
minds  and  actions  in  the  present  age,  that  a  particuLar 
history  of  their  rise  and  progress  would  be  no  idle  or 
unprofitable  task,  though  out  of  place  here.  The  first 
number  of  the  "Americcm  Weeldy  Mercury"  as  it  was 
called,  appeared  on  the  22d  of  December,  1719,  on  a  half 
sheet  of  the  quarto  size,  and  purported  to  be  printed  "  by 
Andrew  Bradford,  at  the  Second  Street,"  and  to  be  sold 
by  him  and  by  John  Copson,  in  Market  Street.  The 
price  was  ten  shillings  per  annum,  and  this  was  quite  as 
much  as  it  deserved.  Extracts  from  foreign  journals 
generally  about  six  months  old,  and  two  or  three  badly 
printed  advertisements,  formed  the  substance  of  the 
journal.  The  office  of  the  editor  was  a  sinecure, — at 
least  his  pen  seems  to  have  been  seldom  employed ;  and 
little  information  can  be  derived  from  the  journal  con- 
cerning the  existing  condition  of  Philadelphia.  Occasion- 
ally a  bill  of  mortality  tells  us  that  one  adult  and  one 
child  died  during  a  certain  week,  and  even  that  is  beyond 
the  usual  number ;  for  some  weeks  appear  to  have  passed 
without  a  single  death.  From  the  following  advertise- 
ment, which  appears  in  No.  17,  something  of  the  customs 
and  state  of  things  at  the  period  may  be  gathered, 
^- These  are  to  give  notice  that  Matthew  Cowley,  a 
skinner  by  trade,  is  removed  from  Chestnut  Street  to 
dwell  in  Walnut  Street,  near  the  Bridg,  where  all  per- 
sons may  have  their  buck  and  doe  skins  drest,"  &c.  "  He 
also  can  furnish  yoic  with  bindings,"  &c.  What  new  ideas 
of  Walnut  Street  does  not  this  hint  about  a  bridge  give 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  127 

US ;  and  how  plenty  must  deer  have  been  in  those  times 
when  all  'persorvs  are  invited  to  have  their  skins  dressed 
by  Matthew  Cowley;  and  then  what  a  famiUar  and 
village  sort  of  acquaintance  with  everj^body,  does  not 
the  transition  at  the  end  from  the  third  to  the  second 
person  plural  imply.  "He  also  can  furnish  you  with 
bindings,"  &c. 

Nine  years  after  the  appearance  of  the  American 
Mercury,  the  Philadelphia  press  was  dehvered  of  a  second 
newspaper,  to  which  the  modest  title  was  given  of  "  The 
Universal  Instructor  in  all  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  Penn- 
sylvania Gazette."  In  his  inimitable  autobiography, 
Franklin  has  immortalized  Keimer,  the  eccentric  pub- 
lisher of  this  journal,  whose  vanity  and  selfishness,  whose 
wild  notions  upon  rehgion  and  morals,  and  whose  turn 
for  poetry  and  gluttony  are  so  happily  and  graphically 
delineated.  Franklin,  from  whom  Keimer  had  stolen  the 
idea  of  a  second  newspaper,  attacked  it  in  a  series  of 
papers  published  in  Bradford's  journal,  and  called  the 
Busy  Body.*  The  "  Universal  Instructor"  soon  fell  into 
decay,  and  then  into  Frankhn's  hands,  by  whom  it  was 
very  skilfully  and  successfully  managed,  both  for  his  own 
profit  and  for  the  interest  and  edification  of  the  pubhc. 


*  A  manuscript  note  in  the  file  of  the  American  Mercury  preserved 
in  the  City  Library,  says,  that  Franklin  wrote  the  first  five  numbers 
and  part  of  the  eighth  of  this  series.  The  rest  were  written  by  J.  B., 
probably  Joseph  Breintnall,  a  member  of  the  Junto,  whom  Franklin 
describes  as  a  "good-natured,  friendly,  middle-aged  man,  a  great 
lover  of  poetry,  reading  all  he  could  meet  with,  and  writing  some 
that  was  tolerable.  Yery  ingenious  in  making  little  nicknackeries, 
and  of  sensible  conversation." 


128  I'ltOVINClAL     LITERATURE 

An  editorial  notice  in  one  of  Franklin's  papers  proves,  in 
rather  a  ludicrous  way,  how  badly  Philadelphia  was  sup- 
phed  at  the  time  (1736)  with  printing  presses.  What 
was  called  ovfer  form  was  printed  reversely  or  upside 
domi  to  the  iiuier  form,  and  the  following  apology  is 
ofTei-ed  :  "  The  printer  hopes  the  irregular  publication  of 
this  paper  will  be  excused  a  few  times  by  his  town 
readers,  in  consideration  of  his  being  at  Burlington  with 
the  press,  laboring  for  the  public  good  to  make  money 
more  plentiful." 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  this  venerable  journal 
survived  until  within  a  year  or  two  of  the  present  time, 
under  the  name  of  "  TM  Pennsylvania  Ga7xtte.''  The  third 
newspaper  published  in  Pennsylvania  was  "  Tlie  PennsyJ- 
vania  Journal  and  Weekly  Advertize?-,'  the  first  number  of 
which  appeared  on  the  2d  of  December,  1742;  and  several 
other  journals  shortly  afterwards  arose  with  various  suc- 
cess. In  1760,  five  newspapers  w^ere  pubhshed  in  the 
State,  all  weekly ;  three  of  them  printed  in  the  city,  one 
in  German  town,  and  one  in  Lancaster.  In  1810,  the 
number  had  increased  to  sixty-six,  of  which  thirteen 
were  pubhshed  in  Philadelphia;  and,  in  1824,  an  official 
return  to  the  Postmaster-General  stated  the  number  at 
one  hundred  and  ten,  of  which  eighteen  were  pubhshed 
m  Philadelphia,  eleven  of  them  daily.  A  prodigious  in- 
crease, which  argues  that  the  appetite  for  this  food  has 
increased  in  full  proportion  with  the  population.  It  is, 
perhaps,  worth  adding  that  the  first  daily  newspaper  that 
appeared  on  the  continent  of  America  was  pubhshed  in 
Philadelphia. 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  129 

There  are  few  persons  on  record  to  whose  individual 
genius  and  exertions  a  conununity  has  owed  so  much  as 
to  Dr.  Frankhn.  If  WiUiam  Penn  was  the  political 
founder  of  the  province,  Franklin  may  be  denominated 
the  architect  of  its  literature, — the  gifted  author  of  many 
of  its  best  institutions,  and  the  father  of  some  of  the  finest 
features  of  our  character.  It  is  seldom,  however,  that 
Providence  has  vouchsafed  such  a  length  of  years  to  such 
an  intellect,  and  still  more  seldom  that  such  events  occur 
as  those  which  developed  the  powers  and  capacities  of 
Franklin's  mind.  The  name  of  this  illustrious  man  is 
closely  connected  with  the  literary  history  of  Pennsyl- 
vania; but  his  life  and  actions  are  too  well  known  to 
require  that  any  elaborate  notice  of  them  should  be  given 
here.  Keferring  therefore  to  his  own  invaluable  memoirs 
for  the  events  of  his  personal  and  political  history,  I  shall 
content  myself  with  a  short  sketch  of  the  principal 
features  of  his  Hterary  career.  The  year  1723,  was  that 
in  which  Franklin  first  set  his  foot  in  Philadelphia.  As 
he  landed  on  Market  Street  wharf  and  walked  up  that 
street,  an  obscure  and  almost  penniless  boy  devouring  a 
roll  of  bread  and  ignorant  where  he  could  find  a  lodging 
for  the  night,  little  could  he  or  any  one  who  then  saw 
him,  anticipate  that  later  advent  when,  sixty  years  after- 
wards, he  landed  upon  the  same  wharf  amid  the  acclama- 
tions of  thousands  of  spectators  on  his  return  from  an 
embassy,  in  which  he  had  dictated  to  his  former  king  the 
terms  of  peace  for  the  confederated  repubUcs,  of  one  of 
which  he  was  placed  at  the  head ;  and  not  merely  dis- 
tinguished   as    a  politician,   but  covered  with   literary 


130  riioviNCiAL    lttp:ratuke 

honors  and  di.stinctioiiH  from  every  country  in  cliristen- 
dom  by  which  genius  and  public  virtue  were  held  in 
estimation.  And  yet  the  change  was  scarcely  greater  for 
Franklin  than  for  Philadelphia.  The  petty  provincial 
village  with  its  scattered  houses  dotted  over  the  bank  of 
the  Delaware,  had  become  a  magnificent  metropolis,  dis- 
tinguished for  the  wisdom  and  liberality  of  its  institutions, 
and  as  the  seat  of  a  general  and  republican  government, 
which,  at  the  former  period,  could  scarcely  have  entered 
into  his  dreams. 

At  the  time  of  Franklin's  arrival  in  Philadelphia,  there 
were  two  printing  offices  in  operation.  Keimer,  the  pro- 
prietor of  one  of  them  had,  however,  but  one  press  and  a 
few  worn  out  types,  with  which,  when  Franklin  visited 
him,  he  was  composing  an  elegy,  literally  of  his  own 
composition,  for  it  had  never  gone  through  the  usual  pro- 
cess in  this  manufacture — of  pen  and  ink — but  flowed  at 
once  from  his  brain  to  the  press.  The  subject  of  these 
typographical  stanzas  was  Aquila  Rose,  an  apprentice  in 
the  office,  whose  surname  naturally  suggested  to  the  mind 
of  Keimer  some  touching  figures.  K  we  may  judge  from 
some  specimens  of  his  poetry  which  Thomas  has  pre- 
served in  his  History  of  Printing,  the  province  lost  little 
by  Keimer's  emigration  to  Bermuda,  which  took  place 
shortly  afterwards. 

Soon  after  his  arrival,  Franklin  formed  an  acquaintance 
with  three  other  pro\dncial  poets,  Watson,  Osborne,  and 
HaJpJi,  whom  he  describes  as  "  all  lovers  of  reading,"  and 
with  whom  he  says  he  "  had  many  pleasant  walks  on  the 
banks  of  the  SchuylkiU,  where  they  read  to  one  another,  and 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  131 

conferred  on  what  they  had  read."  Of  the  first  two  httle 
is  known.  Ralph  was  destined  to  considerable  notoriety. 
He  accompanied  Franklin  to  England  in  1725,  where  he 
began  his  literary  career  as  a  party-writer,  and  had  the 
misfortune  to  become  obnoxious  to  Pope,  who  has  in- 
flicted upon  him  a  severe  token  of  remembrance.  He 
is  twice  mentioned  in  the  Dunciad.  In  Book  I.,  the  poet 
exclaims  : 

"  And  see !  thj  very  Gazetteers  give  o'er, 
Even  Ralph  repents,  and  Henley  writes  no  more." 

And  in  Book  III.,  he  is  brought  out  more  into  relief : 

"  Silence,  ye  wolves !  while  Ralph  to  Cynthia  howls, 
And  makes  night  hideous — answer  him  ye  owls !" 

Pope's  annotator  teUs  us  that  Ralph  brought  this  upon 
himself,  by  the  publication  of  an  abusive  piece  upon  Dr. 
Swift,  Gay,  and  Pope.  He  was  not  noticed  in  the  first 
editions  of  the  Dunciad.  He  published  a  poem  called 
^^  Night,''  to  which  these  lines  allude,  and  vindicated  his 
neglect  of  dramatic  rules  by  the  authority  of  Shakespeare. 
"  He  ended  at  last,"  says  the  ^annotator,  "  in  the  common 
sink  of  all  such  writers,  a  pohtical  newspaper,  and  received 
a  small  pittance  for  pay."  It  may  be  doubted,  however, 
whether  his  hterary  character  deserves  all  the  obloquy 
that  is  thrown  upon  it  by  Pope  and  his  commentator.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  he  took  a  side  in  politics  oppo- 
site to  Pope.  His  political  pamphlets  were  highly  ap- 
plauded at  the  time,  and  his  chief  work,  "  The  History 


132  PRO  VI  NCI  AL     LITE  U  ATI;  RE 

of  England  during  the  reigns  of  William,  Anne,  and 
George  I.,"  in  two  volumes  folio,  received  no  mean  praise 
from  Charles  Fox,  who  calls  him  "  an  historian  of  great 
acuteness  as  well  as  diligence,  but  who  falls  sometimes 
into  the  common  error  of  judging  too  much  by  the 
event."*  His  last  publication  was  entitled  "  The  Case 
of  Authors  stated  with  regard  to  Booksellers,  the  Stage, 
and  the  Public,"  which  is  said  to  contain  "  much  good 
sense  and  lively  satire."  Mr.  Ralph  died  at  Chis^vack,  in 
the  year  1762. 

In  1727,  Franklin  instituted  a  club  for  mutual  improve- 
ment, which  was  named  the  Junto,  and  which  continued 
nearly  forty  years,  without  its  nature  and  objects  being 
publicly  known,  though  "  the  chief  measures  of  Pennsyl- 
vania," it  is  said,  "received  their  first  formation  here." 
The  Junto  is  described  by  its  distinguished  founder  as 
"the  best  school  of  philosophy,  morality,  and  politics, 
that  then  existed  in  the  province."  And  it  appears  to 
have  exerted  a  powerful  influence  on  the  fortunes  of  some 
of  its  members,  and  probably  contributed  in  no  ^lall 
degree  to  foster  that  literary  taste  and  philosophical 
spirit  which  have  been  the  honorable  distinction  of  this 
city.  They  met  every  Friday  evening,^  and  each  mem- 
ber paid  a  penny  a  night  to  recompense  the  landlord  for 
fire  and  hght.  Economy  was  one  of  their  characteristic 
virtues.     Terrapins  and  whisky  punch  were  unknown  to 


*  Hist.  Jas.  2,  p.  126. 

f  Their  place  of  meeting,  in  their  early  days,  was  in  Market  Street 
below  Third,  at  the  sign  of  the  Indian  King. 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  133 

their  frugal  and  temperate  deliberations.  A  copy  of  the 
set  of  rules  formed  in  the  time  of  Dr.  Franklin,  and  pro- 
bably wiitten  by  him,  is  still  in  existence.  They  are 
twenty-four  in  number,  and  exhibit  in  so  strong  a  light 
the  importance,  while  they  display  the  machinery  of  the 
institution,  that  I  am  induced  to  transcribe  them : — 

'■^  Pi^evicnm  question  to  he  answered  at  eoery  meeting. 
Have  you  read  over  these  queries  this  morning,  in  order 
to  consider  what  you  might  have  to  offer  the  Junto 
touching  any  one  of  them,  viz. : 

1.  Have  you  met  with  anything  in  the  author  you  last 
read  remarkable  or  suitable  to  be  communicated  to  the 
Junto,  particularly  in  history,  morality,  poetry,  physic, 
travels,  mechanic  arts,  or  other  parts  of  knowledge  ? 

2.  What  new  story  have  you  lately  heard  agreeable  for 
teUing  in  conversation  ? 

3.  Hath  any  citizen  in  your  knowledge  failed  in  busi- 
ness lately,  and  what  have  you  heard  of  the  cause  ? 

4.  Have  you  lately  heard  of  any  citizens  thriving  well, 
and  by  what  means  ? 

5.  Have  you  lately  heard  how  any  present  rich  man 
here  or  elsewhere  got  his  estate  ? 

6.  Do  you  know  of  any  fellow-citizen  who  has  lately 
done  a  worthy  action,  deserving  praise  or  imitation ;  or 
who  has  committed  an  error  proper  for  us  to  be  warned 
against  and  avoid  ? 

7.  What  unhappy  effects  of  intemperance  have  you 
lately  observed  or  heard ;  of  imprudence ;  of  passion ;  or 
of  any  other  vice  or  folly  ? 


134  r  K  U  V  I  N  C  1  A  L     LITERATURE 

8.  Wliiii  luippy  eflccts  of  tciiiijcrauce ;  of  prudence; 
of  moderution  ;  or  any  other  virtue  ? 

9.  Have  you  or  any  of  your  acquaintances  been  sick 
or  wounded  ?  if  so,  what  remedies  were  used,  and  what 
were  their  effects  ? 

10.  Who  do  you  know  that  are  shortly  going  voyages 
or  journeys,  if  one  should  have  occasion  to  send  by 
them? 

11.  Do  you  think  of  anything  at  present  in  which  the 
Junto  may  be  serviceable  to  mankind,  to  their  country, 
to  their  friends,  or  to  themselves  ? 

12.  Hath  any  deserving  stranger  arrived  in  town  since 
last  meeting,  that  you  have  heard  of;  and  what  kave 
you  heard  or  observed  of  his  character  or  merits;  and 
whether,  think  you,  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Junto  to 
oblige  him,  or  to  encourage  him  as  he  deserves  ? 

13.  Do  you  know  of  any  deserving  young  beginner 
lately  set  up,  whom  it  lies  in  the  power  of  the  Junto  any 
way  to  encourage  ? 

14.  Have  you  lately  observed  any  defect  in,  the  laws 
of  your  country,  of  which  it  would  be  proper  to  move  the 
Legislature  for  an  amendment  ?  or  do  you  know  of  any 
beneficial  law  that  is  wanting  ? 

15.  Have  you  lately  observed  any  encroachment  on  the 
just  liberties  of  the  people  ? 

16.  Hath  anybody  attacked  your  reputation  lately  ? 
and  what  can  the  Junto  do  towards  securing  it  ? 

17.  Is  there  any  man  whose  friendship  you  want, 
and  which  the  Junto  or  any  of  them  can  procure  for 
you? 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  135 

18.  Have  you  lately  heard  any  member's  character 
attacked  ?  and  how  have  you  defended  it  ? 

19.  Hath  any  man  injured  you,  from  whom  it  is  in  the 
power  of  the  Junto  to  procure  redress  ? 

20.  In  what  manner  can  the  Junto,  or  any  of  them, 
assist  you  in  any  of  your  honorable  designs  ? 

21.  Have  you  any  weighty  affair  on  hand,  in  which 
you  think  the  advice  of  the  Junto  may  be  of  service  ? 

22.  What  benefits  have  you  lately  received  from  any 
man  not  present  ? 

23.  Is  there  any  difficulty  in  matters  of  opinion  of 
justice  and  injustice,  which  you  would  gladly  have  dis- 
cussed at  that  time  ? 

24.  Do  you  see  any  things  amiss  in  the  present  customs 
or -proceedings  of  the  Junto,  which  might  be  amended  ?" 

Besides  the  preceding  questions,  the  following  Articles 
of  Faith,  as  they  may  be  called,  were  proposed  to  each 
new  member,  who  was  required  to  lay  his  hand  on  his 
breast  as  he  answered  them  : — 

"  1.  Have  you  any  particular  disrespect  to  any  member 
present  ? 

Answer.  I  have  not. 

2.  Do  you  sincerely  declare  that  you  love  mankind 
in  general,  of  what  profession  or  rehgion  soever  ? 

Answer,  I  do. 

3.  Do  you  think  any  person  ought  to  be  harmed  in 
his  body,  name,  or  goods,  for  mere  speculative  opinions, 
or  his  external  way  of  worship  ? 

Answer.  No. 


136  niOVINClAL     LITERATURE 

4.  Do  you  love  truth  for  truth's  sake?  and  will  you 
endeavor  impartially  to  find  and  receive  it  yourself,  and 
communicate  it  to  others  ? 

Answer.  Yes." 

Among  the  earliest  members  of  the  Junto  were  BrienU 
nall,  who  has  been  already  mentioned;  Nicliolcts  Scull, 
afterwards  Surveyor-General,  who,  says  Franldin,  "loved 
books  and  sometimes  made  verses ;"  William  Parson,  bred 
a  shoemaker,  who  studied  mathematics  with  a  view  to 
astrology,  which  he  afterwards  ridiculed;  William  Cble- 
man,  afterwards  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
upon  whom  Franklin  bestows  this  lofty  praise,  "  He  had 
the  coolest,  clearest  head,  the  best  heart,  and  the  exactest 
morals  of  almost  any  man  I  ever  met  with ;"  and  Thomas 
Godfrey,  the  author  of  the  quadrant,  of  which  noble  in- 
vention he  has  been  meanly  plundered.  Godfrey  w^as,  in 
humble  life,  a  glazier  by  trade,  but  great  and  self-taught 
in  mathematics,  in  which,  according  to  Dr.  Franklin,  he 
was  so  much  absorbed,  that  he  neglected  his  business. 
It  is  recorded  of  him,  that  he  taught  himself  the  Latin 
language,  in  order  to  be  able  to  read  Newton  s  Piincipia, 
which  he  mastered  at  an  early  age :  an  undertaking  of 
no  easy  kind,  even  under  the  most  prosperous  circum- 
stances. Godfrey,  however,  was  depressed  by  the  res 
angiista  domi;  and,  for  the  honor  of  inventing  the  quad- 
rant, contended  with  heavy  odds  against  an  Englishman 
of  some  distinction,  backed  by  all  the  self-love  of  that 
nation,  and  by  the  then  prevailing  opinion  in  Europe, 
that  no  good  could  come  out  of  our  Nazareth.    His  death. 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  137 

which  took  place  at  an  early  age,  left  his  family  iii  narrow 
circumstances.  James  Logan  speaks  of  him  thus,  in  one 
of  his  letters :  "  Thomas  Godfrey  has  a  fine  genius  for 
the  mathematics ;  and  it  would,^  for  the  sake  of  his  birth- 
place, which  is  the  same  as  that  of  my  own  children,  be 
a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  see  him  rewarded."  That 
reward,  however,  never  came.  He  was  suffered  to  go 
down  to  the  grave  in  poverty  and  distress.  His  remains 
lie  without  any  memorial,  in  a  neglected  field ;  and  that 
which  should  have  immortalized  his  name  is  bestowed 
upon  a  foreigner  and  an  impostor. 

In  1730,  FrankUn  proposed  to  the  club  to  bring  their 
books  together,  so  as  to  form  a  common  stock  for  the 
general  convenience.  Thus,  the  first  joint  library  was 
formed  in  Philadelphia.  The  next  year,  he  set  on  foot 
proposals  for  a  pubhc  library :  procured  fifty  subscribers, 
at  forty  shillings,  and  ten  shillings  a  year  for  fifty  years. 
This  was  the  foundation  of  the  Library  Company,  which 
has  been  so  long  a  subject  of  just  pride  to  our  city,  and 
which  has  operated  so  beneficially  upon  her  literature  and 
moral  character. 

In  1743,  Franklin  suggested  the  establif-  iit  of  a 
college  for  the  education  of  young  men  in  the  higher 
branches  of  knowledge,  from  which  the  Academy,  now 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  originated ;  and  the  next 
year  he  was  one  of  the  chief  agents  in  organizing  the 
Philosophical  Society.  The  history  of  the  rise  and  pro- 
gress of  these  institutions  is  so  well  known  that  it  is  quite 
unnecessary  to  enter  upon  it  in  this  place. 


138  PROVINCIAL     LITERATURE 

111  the  Provincial  Annals  of  Pennsylvania,  few  names 
appear  willi  more  just  distinction  than  that  of  James 
Logan;'=  who  was  successively  Secretary  of  the  Province, 
and   Clerk   of  the   Council,   Commissioner   of  Property, 
Chief  Justice,  President  of  the  Council,  and,  what  was 
far  better,  a  most  learned,  honorable,  and  liberal  man. 
It  is  with  his  literary  character  alone  that  I  have  at 
present    any    concern;    and,    although    the     Quarterly 
Reviewers,  with  characteristic   effrontery,  have  sneered 
at  him  as  "  a  man  of  tlw  name  of  Logan,  as  obscure  a-s  God- 
frey himself^'  yet  certainly,   as  a   man  of  science    and 
letters,  he  has  had  few  superiors  out  of  the  province.     He 
arrived  in  Pennsylvania  in  the  year  1699,  and  was  then 
in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  age.     It  was  not,  however, 
until  the  year  1730,  that  he  became  generally  known  for 
his  proficiency  in   science.      He   communicated    to   the 
Royal  Society  several  valuable  papers,  three  of  which  are 
to  be  found  in  one  volume  of  their  transactions  (the  38th). 
In  1739,  he  pubHshed,  at  Leyden,  his  valuable  treatise, 
in  Latin,  entitled,  "  Expeiimenta  et  meletemata  de  Plaiv- 
tarum  generatione"  which  was  repubhshed  in  London,  in 
1747,  with  a  version  on  the  opposite  page,  by  Dr.  Fother- 
gill.-j-     He  printed  at  Lej^den,  at  the  same  time,  another 
learned  treatise,  entitled : 


*  A  Brief  Memoir  of  Logan  was  published  by  Wilson  Aruii- 
stead,  London,  1851. — Editor. 

•|-  The  translator  made  the  following  remarks  in  the  preface  :  "  Our 
author's  addess  in  choosing  and  conducting  experiments  and  his  capa- 
city for  the  abstrusest  researches,  would  doubtless  have  enabled  him 
to  give  the  world  ample  satisfaction  on  this  intricate  subject,  had  he 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  139 

'^  Canonum  pro  inveniendis  refractionuifn  turn  simplicvwm 
turn  in  lentibus  duplicium  focis,  demonstrationes  goemetricce. 
Aufore  Jacoho  Logan,  Judice  Sujpremo  et  Prceside  Pi-omndcB 
Pennsylva7iiensis,  in  America." 

In  1734,  he  translated  Cicero's  tract  De  Senectute, 
which,  ten  years  afterwards,  was  printed  by  Franklin, 
in  a  stj'le  which,  in  correctness  and  the  distinctness  of 
the  types,  far  exceeds  some  of  our  modern  productions. 
The  translation  is  faithful,  and  at  the  same  time  easy, 
and  the  le^'ned  author  enriched  it  with  very  entertain- 
ing notes,  explanatory  of  the  persons  and  things  treated 
of  in  the  text.  In  the  preface,  which  was  written  by  Dr. 
Franklin,  we  are  told  that  "  this  version  was  made  ten 
years  since,  by  the  honorable  and  learned  Mr.  Logan,  of 
this  city;  undertaken  partly  for  his  own  amusement 
(being  then  in  his  sixtieth  year,  which  is  said  to  be 
nearly  the  age  of  the  author  when  he  wrote  it),  but 
principally  for  the  entertainment  of  a  neighbor,  then  in 
his  grand  climacteric;  and  the  notes  were  draT^Ti  up 
solely  on  that  neighbor's  account,  who  was  not  so  well 
acquainted  as  himself  with  the  Eoman  history  and  Ian 
guage."  His  charges  as  Chief  Justice  were  reprinted 
abroad,  and  are  said  to  be  "of  singular  excellence.  He 
appears  in  them  not  only  as  a  watchful  guardian  of  the 
domestic  weal,  and  as  a  sagacious  director,  but  as  a  pro- 
found morahst  and  beautiful  writer.    Such  subtle  disquisi- 

been  permitted  to  prosecute  his  inquiries.  But  his  country  called 
him  to  more  important  affairs,  and  kept  him  constantly  engaged  in 
employments  more  immediately  beneficial  to  society. 


140  TROyiNClAL     LITERATURE 

tioii  and  lofty  speculation,  sucli  variety  of  knowledge  and 
richness  of  diction,  are  seldom  found  in  compositions  of 
any  kind."'"  lie  was  well  versed  both  in  ancient  and 
modern  learning,  acquainted  with  the  oriental  tongues, 
and  a  master  of  the  Latin,  Greek,  French,  and  ItaHan 
languages.  lie  died  on  the  31st  of  October,  1751,  aged 
seventy-seven,  leaving  to  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  a 
noble  monument  of  his  munificence,  in  the  Loganian 
Library,  which  he  had  been  fifty  years  in  collecting,  and 
the  value  of  which  is  well  known  to  all  men  of  learning.f 
Such  was  "  the  obscure  man  of  the  name  of  Logan." 


Contemporaneous  with  Logan  and  Franklin,  and  in 
the  habit  of  constant  intercourse  with  them,  was  John 
Bartram.J      This  celebrated  self-taught  philosopher,  of 

*  Walsh's  Appeal,  p.  275,  4n. 

f  The  following  extract  from  his  Will  shows  the  importance  of  the 
collection :  "  In  my  library,  which  I  have  left  to  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia, for  the  advancement  and  facilitating  of  classical  learning,  are 
above  one  hundred  volumes  of  authors,  in  folio,  all  in  Greek,  with 
mostly  their  versions.  All  the  Roman  classics,  without  exception. 
All  the  Greek  mathematicians,  viz.,  Archimedes,  Euclid,  Ptolemy, 
both  his  Geography  and  Almagest,  which  I  had  in  Greek  (with 
Theon's  Commentary,  in  folio,  above  seven  hundred  pages),  from  my 
learned  friend  Fabricius,  who  published  fourteen  volumes  of  his 
Bibliothcque  Grecque,  in  quarto,  in  which,  after  he  had  finished  his 
account  of  Ptolemy,  on  my  inquiring  of  him  at  Hamburg,  how  I 
should  find  it,  having  long  sought  for  it  in  vain  in  England,  he  sent 
it  to  me  out  of  his  own  library,  telling  me  it  was  so  scarce  that 
neither  prayers  or  price  could  purchase  it.  Besides,  there  are  many 
of  the  most  valuable  Latin  authors,  and  a  great  number  of  modern 
mathematicians,  with  all  the  three  editions  of  Newton,  Dr.  Watts, 
Halley,  &c." 

X  In  1849,  Dr.  William  Darlington  published  "Memorials  of  John 
Bartram  and  Humphrey  Marshall, — Philadelphia," — which  publica- 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  141 

whom  Linnjeus  said,  that  he  was  the  greatest  natural 
botanist  in  the  world,  was  born  near  Darby,  in  what  was 
then  Chester  County,  in  the  year  1701.  His  grand- 
father, of  the  same  name  with  himself,  came  from  Derby- 
shire, in  England,  in  1682.  Very  early  in  life  his  ruling 
passion,  the  love  of  nature  and  her  productions,  broke 
out,  and  he  manifested  that  eagerness  and  capacity  for 
learning  which  characterized  all  his  after  life.  He  was 
the  first  American  who  founded  a  botanic  garden;  and 
his  reputation  became  so  extensive  that  he  corresponded 
with  most  of  the  distinguished  foreign  philosophers,  was 
made  a  fellow  of  several  of  the  scientific  societies  of 
Europe,  and  finally  appointed  American  Botanist  to 
George  III.  Like  Frankhn,  he  was  very  ingenious  as  a 
mechanic.  The  house  in  which  he  resided  was  built  by 
himself;  the  stone  was  quarried,  and  the  timber  prepared 
by  his  o^ai  hands ;  and,  on  its  completion,  he  dedicated 
it  by  the  following  distich,  which  he  engraved  in  front : 

"  To  God  alone :  the  Almighty  Lord : 
The  Holy  One  by  me  adored.'' 

John  Bartram,  1770. 

This  learned  and  accomplished  man  was  born  and 
educated  a  Quaker,  and  is  said  to  have  been  modest  and 
gentle  in  manners,  of  amiable  disposition  and  hberal 
mind.     He  died  in  September,  1777.     His  son,  William 

tion  was  followed  by  Mr.  WilRam  H.  Dillingham's  "  Tribute  to  the 
Memory  of  Peter  Collinson,  with  some  notice  of  Dr.  Darlington's 
Memorials  of  John  Bartram  and  Humphrey  Marshall."  Philadel- 
phia, 1851,  pp.  3T. — Editor. 


142  I'KOVINCIAL     LITERATURE 

Bartram,  inlicritcd  his  father's  tastes  and  talents.  In 
1773,  he  undertook  a  long  and  arduous  journey,  as  lie 
says,  "at  the  request  of  Dr.  Fothergill,  of  Ixjndon,  to 
search  the  Floridas,  and  the  western  parts  of  Carohna 
and  Georgia,  for  the  discovery  of  rare  and  useful  produc- 
tions of  nature,  chiefly  in  the  vegetahle  kingdom."  His 
travels,  which  were  published  in  a  thick  volume,  in  1791, 
are  fruitful  of  information  and  interest  for  botanists,  con- 
tain many  valuable  facts  on  the  subject  of  the  Indians, 
and  are  not  without  amusement  for  readers  in  general. 
They  prove  also  that  the  author  possessed,  together  with 
his  father's  taste  and  talents,  his  laudable  zeal  in  the 
pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  his  excellent  and  liberal 
feehngs. 


The  subject  of  Slavery  and  the  Slave  Trade  agitated 
the  public  mind  of  Pennsylvania  very  early  in  its  colonial 
life,  and  sent  men  to  the  press  with  a  long  succession  of 
pamphlets.  Before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
George  Keith  published  an  essay  against  the  traffic  in 
slaves,  the  first  remonstrance  that  this  country  gave  birth 
to.  Dr.  Franklin  says,  in  a  letter  dated  November  4th, 
1789,  "  I  find,  by  an  old  pamphlet  in  my  possession,  that 
George  Keith,  near  an  hundred  years  ago,  wrote  a  paper 
against  the  practice  of  slaveholding,  said  to  be  "given 
forth  by  the  appointment  of  the  meeting  held  by  him  at 
Philip  James's  house,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  about 
the  year  1693,"  &c.  "And  about  the  year  1728  or  1729 
(Franklin  continues),  I  myself  printed  a  book  for  Ralph 
Sandiford,  another  of  your  friends  of  this  city,  against 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  143 

keeping  negroes  in  slavery,  two  editions  of  which  he  dis- 
tributed gratis.  And  about  the  year  1736,  I  printed  an- 
other book  on  the  same  subject,  for  Benjamin  Lay,  who 
also  professed  being  one  of  your  friends,"  &c.  The  lives 
of  Sandiford  and  Lay,  and  of  Anthony  Benezet,  another 
distinguished  laborer  in  the  same  cause,  have  been 
written  by  a  gentleman*  in  no  wise  inferior  to  either  of 
them  in  singleness  of  heart  and  devotion  to  the  public 
good,  and  whose  philanthropy  is  rendered  more  useful  to 
his  fellow-citizens  as  well  as  honorable  to  himself  by  sub- 
jection to  the  discipline  of  a  better  regulated  common 
sense  than  seems  always  to  have  governed  the  laborers  in 
this  vineyard.  The  tone  and  temper  in  which  these 
memoirs  are  written,  and  their  literary  execution,  gives 
us  reason  to  regret  that  their  excellent  author  has  not 
continued  his  labors,  and  furnished  us  with  biographies 
of  some  more  Pennsylvanians.  Sandiford,  Lay,  and 
Benezet,  were  the  principal  ante-revolutionary  writers 
on  the  subject  of  slavery.  The  first  was  a  native  of 
Liverpool,  in  England,  and  came  to  Philadelphia  while  a 
youth.  His  early  years  were  passed  as  a  seaman,  in 
which  capacity  he  visited  the  West  Indies.  In  1729,  he 
published  the  work  to  which  Franklin  alludes,  and  which, 
in  the  fashion  of  the  day,  he  entitled  "  The  Mystery  of 
Iniquity,  or  a  Brief  Examination  of  the  Practice  of  the 
Times."  He  died  in  1733,  at  Lower  Dublin,  in  the 
county  of  Philadelphia.  Benjamin  Lay,  who  went  a  step 
beyond  him  in  enthusiasm,  was  born  in  1677,  in  Es§ex 


*  Roberts  Vaax,  Esq. 


144  PROVINCIAL     LITERATURE 

County,  England  j  like  Sandiford,  was  a  .sailor  in  the 
early  part  of  his  life,  and  came  to  Philadelphia  at  the 
age  of  fifty-four,  where  he  soon  began  to  testify  with  an 
equal  degree  of  zeal  against  eating  meat  and  holding 
slaves.  In  1737,  he  published  the  first  pamphlet  against 
slavery,  which  was  followed  by  many  others,  all  circu- 
lated gratis.  His  enthusiasm  on  this  subject  was  exces- 
sive, and  often  very  annoying  to  others;  but  his  anti- 
carnivorous  system  came  near  proving  fatal  to  himself: 
for,  attempting  to  fast  in  imitation  of  the  Saviour,  he  was 
reduced  almost  to  the  gates  of  death.  The  good  sense  of 
his  friends  saved  him,  and  he  lived  to  the  patriarchal  age 
of  eighty-two.  The  life  of  Anthony  Benezet  was  more 
diversified  by  incidents,  and  is  better  known  than  those 
of  his  predecessors  in  the  same  cause,  to  which  he  devoted 
almost  his  entire  life  and  his  utmost  abilities,  with  sur- 
prising constancy  and  zeal.  Born  in  France,  in  1713,  he 
came  to  Philadelphia  at  the  age  of  eighteen ;  where,  after 
passing  several  years  as  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools, 
he  became  impressed  with  the  subject  of  African  slavery. 
In  1762,  he  published  his  "Account  of  that  part  of 
Africa  inhabited  by  the  Negroes."  Many  other  works, 
on  this  and  religious  topics,  were  successfully  put  forth 
by  him,  which  all  bore  the  stamp  of  his  mind,  strength, 
simplicity,  and  order.  He  attained  an  enviable  height 
in  the  estimation  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  died  in  1784, 
aged  seventy-one. 


The  year  1732  gave  birth  to  David  Rittenhouse,  a 
man  who  is  deservedly  ranked  among  those  benefactors 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  145 

and  ornaments  of  this  country  by  whom  her  character  is 
elevated  and  distinguished.  He  was  born  at  German- 
town,  in  the  county  of  Philadelphia,  and  was  the  son  of 
a  respectable  farmer.  His  fondness  for  mathematical 
science  was  displayed  at  the  early  age  of  fourteen,  and 
while  he  was  literally  at  the  plough,  the  handles  of  which 
were  covered  with  his  calculations ;  and,  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  without  foreign  assistance,  he  constructed  a 
complete  clock.  Astronomy  next  became  the  subject  of 
his  inquiries,  and,  procuring  a  few  books,  he  soon  made  a 
wonderful  progress.  In  1768,  he  completed  his  first 
orrery,  on  which  occasion  Mr,  Jefferson  observed,  that 
"  as  an  artist  he  had  exhibited  as  great  proofs  of 
mechanic  genius  as  the  world  had  ever  produced."  The 
next  year,  in  company  with  several  others,  a  committee 
of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  appointed  for  the 
purpose,  he  observed  the  transit  of  Venus.  His  report  on 
this  subject,  not  only  gave  satisfaction  to  the  friends  of 
sconce  in  this  country,  but  obtained  the  applause  of 
foreign  astronomers.  In  1775,  he  delivered  the  annual 
oration  before  the  Philosophical  Society,  in  which  he 
exhibited  both  his  attachment  to,  and  profound  know- 
ledge of,  the  science  of  astronomy  and  the  soundness  of 
his  principles  as  a  patriot.  The  subsequent  part  of  his  life 
is  well  known,  and  falls  without  the  limits  of  this  sketch. 
He  died  in  June,  1796,  having  tasted  a  full  measure  of 
the  public  honor  and  respect.  "  On  the  whole,"  says  a 
foreign  writer,  "as  a  philosopher  and  man  of  science, 
America  has  not  produced  any  one  superior  to  David 
Eittenhouse.     To  the  principle  of  liberty,  he  was  invari- 

10 


146  PROVINCIAL     LITERATURE 

ably  iittiiclicd;  his  philuiitliropy  was  universal,  and  ren- 
dered liim  a  friend  to  the  whole  human  race,  without 
distinction  of  country,  color,  or  complexion.  In  private 
life,  amiable  and  unassuming;  in  public,  a  constant  and 
firm  asserter  of  the  rights  of  man."* 


In  the  year  1734-5,  another  religious  controversy  pro- 
duced another  litter  of  pamphlets.  It  seems  that  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Hemphill,  Pastor  of  one  of  the  Presbyterian 
Meetings,  had  preached  divers  popular  sermons,  incul- 
cating the  duty  of  good  works ;  but  which,  on  being  tried 
by  the  test  of  orthodoxy,  were  found  wanting.  Accord- 
ingly, he  was  suspended  from  his  clerical  functions  by  a 
Commissioner  of  the  Synod,  but  continued  nevertheless 
to  preach  in  public.  In  July,  1735,  "he  preached  twice 
to  a  very  numerous  congregation,  at  the  house  where 
the  Assembly  used  to  meet."  Several  essays  pro  and  con 
were  published.  Dr.  Franklin  himself  entered  the  list  in 
favor  of  Mr.  Hemphill,  with  two  pamphlets,  besides  a 
very  ingenious  article  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue,  between 
two  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which  appeared 
in  the  Gazette  of  April,  1735.  Mr.  Hemphill,  though  a 
taking  preacher,  was  an  indifferent  writer ;  and,  after  a 
little  while,  it  was  discovered  that  the  eloquent  sermons 
which  he  preached  were  not  really  his  own  performances, 

*  Most  of  the  facts  here  stated  are  taken  from  the  Life  of  Ritten- 
house  by  William  Barton,  of  Lancaster :  a  work  which,  although  ex- 
hibiting perhaps  too  ostentatious  a  display  of  learning,  is  yet  pleasingly 
written,  and  contains  many  valuable  facts  illustrative  of  the  political 
and  literary  history  of  Pennsylvania. 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  147 

but  borrowed  literally  from  other  divines.  Upon  which 
discovery  he  took  his  departure  in  quest  of  better  fortune, 
and  probably  in  search  of  critics  with  shorter  memories 
than  those  of  Philadelphia. 


Political  pamphlets  and  essays  abounded  in  the  years 
1764  and  1765.  The  great  question  of  the  expediency 
of  changing  the  form  of  government  from  a  proprietary 
to  a  regal  one,  was  one  of  the  first  discussed.  Then  came 
the  subject  of  the  Indian  massacre  in  Lancaster  County, 
and  the  question  of  the  policy  of  the  government  towards 
this  race.  And  lastly,  the  right  to  call  upon  the  citizens 
to  bear  arms ;  and,  as  involved  in  this,  the  doctrine  of 
the  lawfulness  of  war,  and  the  expediency  of  the  system 
of  government  pursued  by  the  Quakers,  were  vigorously 
contested.  The  principal  writers  were  Dr.  Franklin, 
Joseph  Galloway,  John  Dickinson,  and  Dr.  Smith. 
Franklin  opposed  the  proprietary  interest,  and  in  conse- 
quence thereof,  at  the  election  in  1764,  lost  his  seat  in 
the  House,  which  he  had  held  for  fourteen  years.  The 
interest  which  the  contest  excited,  is  proved  by  the 
number  of  pamphlets  published  on  these  questions.  No 
fewer  than  thirteen,  published  in  one  year  (1764),  remain 
in  the  collection  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society. 
The  imposition  of  the  Stamp  Act  produced,  as  may  be 
supposed,  great  activity  in  the  press.  The  chief  writer 
was  John  Dickinson,  who  acquired  great  distinction  at 
this  period,  and  of  whose  Farmer's  Letters,  Dr.  Eamsay 
says,  that  in  this  work,  "  he  may  be  said  to  have  sown 
the  seeds  of  the  Revolution."     The  celebrated  petition  to 


148  PRO  VI  NCI  A  L     LITER  ATUUE 

the  King,  and  other  memorials  adopted  by  Congress, 
attest  the  sharpness  of  his  pen  and  the  vigor  of  his  mind; 
and  he  was  no  less  distinguished  for  his  miscellaneous 
knowledge  and  cultivated  taste.  He  died  at  Wilmington, 
on  the  15tli  of  February,  1808,  at  an  advanced  age.  His 
political  writings  were  collected  and  published  in  2  Vols. 
8vo.,  in  1810. 


The  name  of  Francis  Hopkinson  is  more  identified 
with  the  revolutionary,  than  with  the  provincial  history 
of  the  State ;  but,  in  sketching  out  the  Uterature  of  the 
province,  he  must  not  be  omitted.  A  poet,  a  wit,  a 
patriot,  a  chemist,  a  mathematician,  and  a  Judge  of  the 
Admiralty :  his  character  was  composed  of  a  happy 
union  of  qualities  and  endowments,  commonly  supposed 
to  be  discordant;  and,  with  the  humor  of  Swift  and  Rabe- 
lais, he  was  always  on  the  side  of  virtue  and  social  order. 
His  pubhcations  were  chiefly  of  a  fugitive  nature,  and 
originally  appeared  in  the  magazines  and  newspapers. 
They  are  admirable  in  their  way,  and  he  is  equally  great 
in  exposing  the  formalities  and  pedantry  of  science,  and 
in  ridiculing  the  absurd  pretensions  of  his  country's 
oppressors.  Of  these  productions,  the  most  celebrated 
are  The  Salt  Box,  a  specimen  of  collegiate  examination ; 
The  Battle  of  tlie  Kegs;  The  Essay  on  Whitewashing,  and 
The  New  Roof,  an  excellent  piece  in  favor  of  the  Consti- 
tution of  1788.  His  works,  including  his  judicial  decis- 
ions, were,  after  his  death,  collected  and  pubhshed  in 
three  volumes.     Francis  Hopkinson  was  bom  in  Phila- 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  149 

delphia,  in  1737,  and  died  in  his  native  city,  on  tlie  9th 
of  May,  1791. 


In  the  year  1760,  the  Rev.  Andrew  Burnaby,  Vicar 
of  Greenwich,  in  England,  travelled  through  the  (then) 
colonies,  and,  in  the  course  of  his  journey,  visited  Philor 
delphia.  On  his  return,  he  pubhshed  an  account  of  his 
tour,  in  a  small  quarto  volume,  which  is  among  the 
FrankUn  Pamphlets,  at  the  Athenaaum.  He  speaks  thus 
of  Philadelphia :  "  Arts  and  sciences  are  yet  in  their 
infancy.  There  are  some  few  who  have  discovered  a 
taste  for  music  and  painting ;  and  philosophy  seems  not 
only  to  have  made  a  considerable  progress  already,  but  to 
be  daily  gaining  ground.  The  Library  Society  is  an  ex- 
cellent institution  for  propagating  a  taste  for  literature, 
and  the  College  well  calculated  to  form  and  cultivate  it. 
This  last  institution  is  erected  on  an  admirable  plan,  and 
is  by  far  the  best  school  for  learning  throughout  America. 
It  has  been  chiefly  raised  by  contribution,  and  its  present 
fund  is  about  £10,000,  Pennsylvania  money.  An  account 
of  it  may  be  seen  in  Dr.  Smith's  (the  President's)  dis- 
courses. The  Quakers  also  have  an  Academy  for 
instructing  their  youth  in  classical  learning  and  practical 
mathematics  :  there  are  three  teachers,  and  about  seventy 
boys  in  it.  Besides  these,  there  are  several  schools  in 
the  province  for  the  Dutch  and  other  foreign  children ; 
and  a  considerable  one  is  going  to  be  erected  at  German- 
town." 

In  1774,  was  pubhshed  in  Philadelphia,  a  small  work, 


150  rUOVINClAL     LITKKATURE 

entitled  "  Observutioiis  on  a  variety  of  .subjects,  Literary, 
Moral,  and  Keligious,  in  a  Series  of  Original  Letters, 
written  by  a  gentlemen  of  foreign  extraction,  who  resided 
some  time  in  Pliiladelphia."  The  author  was  the  Rev. 
Mr,  Duche,  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  who  is  said  by 
Graydon  to  have  been  "a  weak  and  vain,  but  probably 
not  a  bad  man."  He  engaged  in  the  early  part  of  the 
revolutionary  conflict :  was  a  Whig  at  first,  but  when  the 
British  entered  Philadelphia,  changed  sides,  and  wrote  an 
insolent  and  presumptuous  letter  to  General  Washington, 
in  which  he  advises  him  to  renounce  what  he  was  pleased 
to  style,  "a  degenerate  cause."  He  also  published  a 
volume  of  Sermons.  The  signature  to  his  series  of  letters 
is  the  affected  name  of  Tamoc  Caspipina,  two  words 
formed  by  the  first  letters  of  his  clerical  title, —  The 
Assistant  Minister  Of  Christ  Church  And  St.  Peter's,  La 
Philadelphia,  In  North  America.  The  Hterary  merit  of 
these  letters  is  very  small.  The  observations  are  ex- 
tremely trite  and  common-place,  and  they  are  brought  up 
in  support  of  the  most  obvious  principles  of  religion  and 
morals.  The  author  gives  us  few  particulars  of  the  state 
of  things  in  Philadelphia.  He  bears  testimony,  however, 
to  the  love  of  letters,  which  has  at  all  times  prevailed 
among  us.  "  You  would  be  astonished  (he  says,  in  one 
letter,  p.  11)  at  the  general  taste  for  books  which  prevails 
among  all  orders  and  ranks  of  people  in  this  city.  The 
Librarian  (of  the  City  Library)  assured  me,  that  for  one 
person  of  distinction  and  fortune,  there  were  twenty 
tradesmen  that  frequented  this  Library."  And  in  a  sub- 
sequent   letter:    "Literary   accompUshments   here   meet 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  151 

with  deserved  applause.  Such  is  the  prevailing  taste  for 
books  of  every  kind,  that  almost  every  man  is  a  reader ; 
and,  by  pronouncing  sentences  right  or  wrong,  upon  the 
various  publications  that  come  in  his  way,  puts  himself 
upon  a  level,  in  point  of  knowledge,  with  these  several 
authors  (page  30)."  "Many  excellent  productions,  in  the 
literary  way,  have  been  published  here.  That  sj)irit  of 
freedom  which  I  have  already  mentioned,  has  given  birth 
even  to  orators  and  poets,  many  of  whose  performances  I 
have  heard  and  read  with  the  highest  satisfaction." 


Pennsylvania  has  produced  her  full  share  of  Poets. 
Besides  those  I  have  already  mentioned,  must  be  recorded 
the  names  of  Beveridge,  Godfrey,  and  JEvans.  In  the  year 
1765,  was  published  a  volume  (the  first  of  the  kind 
printed  in  Philadelphia)  of  Latin  poems.  The  author, 
John  Beveridge,  was,  at  the  time.  Professor  of  Languages 
in  the  College  and  Academy  of  Philadelphia,  to  which 
station  he  was  appointed  in  1758.  He  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  and  originally  taught  a  school  in  Edinburgh. 
Of  this  learned  person,  an  amusing  account  is  given  by 
Graydon,  in  his  entertaining  memoirs  of  his  own  life. 
He  appears  to  have  possessed  an  accurate  and  profound 
acquaintance  with  the  ancient  languages,  but  out  of  these 
his  acquirements  were  limited;  and,  in  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  he  seems  to  have  been  about  on  a  par 
with  Dominie  Sampson.  The  management  of  a  school  of 
seventy  or  eighty  boys  was  entirely  beyond  his  powers, 
although  he  was  nominally  assisted  in  the  business  of 
teaching  by  two  others.     His  collection  of  poems,  which 


152  I'liO  VI  NCI  A  I,     LITEUATUKE 

was  published  l)y  subsciiption,  was  entitled  " Ejn^tola; 
FamUlarcs,  ct  Alia  Qiioudam  MisceUanea."  For  the  most 
part,  these  pieces  are  written  with  considerable  purity 
and  elegance  J  but  even  in  Europe,  where  a  greater 
number  of  competent  readers  of  Latin  poetry  exists,  they 
would  probably  have  shared  the  fate  they  have  met  with 
here,  and 

"  Yielded  to  the  wand  of  dull  oblivion." 

In  an  ingenious  poetical  address  to  John  Penn,  the 
Professor  of  Latin  more  than  hints  that  a  conveyance  to 
him,  in  fee  simple,  of  some  few  of  the  many  thousand 
acres  possessed  by  the  Penn  Family,  would  not  be  an  un- 
suitable reward  for  the  immortality  bestowed  upon  him 
by  the  poet ;  and  reminds  him,  that  without  the  aid  of 
Virgil  and  Homer,  the  fame  of  Ajax  and  Meecenas  would 
have  travelled  but  a  little  way  out  of  their  own  doors. 
Notwithstanding  these  sagacious  suggestions,  poor  Bever- 
idge  continued  to  ply  the  birch ;  and  never,  it  is  believed, 
attained  that  independence  he  so  pathetically  and  poeti- 
cally coveted. 

Of  Thomas  Godfrey,*  the  poet  and  son  of  the  ingenious 
inventor  of  the  quadrant,  a  brief  memoir  has  been  left  by 
his  friend  Evans.     He  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  1736. 


*  In  1843,  a  monument  was  erected  to  the  memory  of  Thomas 
Godfrey,  at  Laurel  Hill,  and  its  completion  commemorated  in  an 
Address  by  Govcrneur  Emerson,  M.D.  Philadelphia,  1843,  pp.  22. — 
Editor. 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  153 

His  father  djdng  when  he  was  very  young,  and  leaving 
little  property,  the  son  received  only  a  plain  English 
education,  but  displayed  in  his  early  years  that  talent  for 
and  attachment  to  poetry  which  was  the  delight  and  dis- 
tinction of  his  short  after-life.  He  is  said  also  to  have 
possessed  a  fine  ear  for  music  and  a  strong  inchnation  to 
painting,  to  which  art  he  was  desirous  of  being  bred,  but 
his  friends  ordered  otherwise.  He  was  apprenticed  to  a 
watchmaker,  but  devoted  all  his  leisure  hours  to  poetry ; 
and  tired  of  his  mechanical  employments,  he  obtained  a 
lieutenant's  commission  in  the  Pennsylvania  forces,  raised 
in  1758,  for  the  exj)edition  against  Fort  Du  Quesne,  in 
which  station  he  continued  until  the  campaign  was  over, 
when  the  provincial  troops  were  disbanded.  The  suc- 
ceeding spring,  he  accepted  the  offer  of  an  agency  in 
North  Carohna,  where  he  remained  three  years.  On  the 
death  of  his  employer,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  where 
he  obtained  the  station  of  a  supercargo  in  a  small  vessel 
to  New  Providence.  Here  he  remained  several  months ; 
and  then  sailed  again  for  North  Carolina,  where,  in  a  few 
weeks  after  his  arrival,  he  died  of  a  bilious  malignant 
fever.  His  death  took  place  in  August,  1763,  in  the 
twenty-seventh  year  of  age.  His  poems  are  highly 
praised  by  his  biographer,  who  extols  in  glowing 
language  the  sweetness  of  his  disposition,  the  warmth 
of  his  heart,  and  the  strength  of  his  friendship. 


The  Kev.  Nathaniel  Evans,  Minister  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  and  Missionary  to  Gloucester  County, 


154  I'KoviNciAL    liti-:katuke 

New  Jersey,  publislied  a  volume  of  poems  in  1770,  most 
of  which  may  be  reiul  now  with  pleasure.  If  not  remark- 
able lor  energy  or  originality,  the  vivida  m^  animi,  they 
are  smooth  and  polished,  and  indicate  the  possession  of  a 
refined  taste  and  lively  imagination.  From  a  short 
memoir  of  him,  which  I  have  seen,  it  appears  that  he 
was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  1742,  and  received  his  edu- 
cation at  the  Academy  then  newly  instituted.  After 
spending  six  years  in  this  institution,  his  friends  with- 
drew him  and  placed  him  in  a  counting-house.  He 
devoted  his  time,  however,  to  the  muses ;  and,  after  the 
expiration  of  his  apprenticeship,  returned  to  college, 
where  he  applied  himself  so  assiduously  to  the  study  of 
philosophy  and  literature,  that  by  a  special  vote  of  the 
Trustees,  on  recommendation  of  the  Faculty,  he  received 
the  degree  of  M.A.,  although  he  had  not  taken  the  pre- 
vious degree  of  B.A.  Immediate^  after  this,  he  repaired 
to  England,  wdiere  he  was  admitted  into  holy  orders  by 
Dr.  Terrick,  Bishop  of  London,  who  is  said  to  have  ex- 
pressed great  satisfaction  with  his  essays  on  theological 
subjects.  He  returned  to  Philadelphia  in  December, 
1765,  and  immediately  entered  upon  the  duties  of  a 
mission  at  Gloucester,  in  New  Jersey,  to  which  he  had 
been  appointed.  He  lived  only  long  enough  to  show  his 
fitness,  both  moral  and  mental,  for  the  holy  office  he  had 
undertaken ;  and  closed  his  blameless  life  on  the  29th  of 
October,  1767,  dying,  like  his  friend  Godfrey,  who  pre- 
ceded him  only  four  years,  at  a  very  early  age. 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  155 

The  first  Literary  Journal  ever  published  in  any  part 
of  the  United  States  appeared  in  Philadelphia.  This  was 
"T7ie  Geiueral  Magazine  and  Historical  Chronicle^'  printed 
and  edited  bj  Dr.  Franklin,  of  which  the  first  number 
appeared  on  the  1st  of  January,  1741.  It  was  continued 
for  about  a  year.  A  copy  of  it  is  in  the  City  Library. 
It  is  chiefly  occupied  with  the  proceedings  of  the  English 
Parliament  and  public  documents,  but  contains,  neverthe- 
less, some  original  matter,  not  without  interest  at  the 
present  day.  Another  journal  was  pubhshed  in  the  same 
year,  by  Bradford,  entitled  "  The  American  Magazine^'  but 
it  existed  only  two  months.  In  1757,  Bradford  revived 
it,  but  with  similar  success,  for  only  three  numbers  were 
pubhshed.  In  1769,  a  small  periodical  work  of  little 
worth,  entitled  the  '-'•Penny  Post^'  was  published  by  Ben- 
jamin Mecom.  His  design  was  to  print  it  weekly,  but  it 
was,  in  fact,  published  at  irregular  periods.  Another 
journal,  under  the  name  of  "  The  American  Magazine^' 
was  published  in  1769,  by  Lewis  Nichola.  It  ended  with 
the  year.  Nichola  was  born  in  France,  and  educated  in 
Ireland.  He  was  the  author  of  a  military  treatise,  written 
at  the  commencement  of  the  Kevolution,  and  I  believe 
attained  a  high  rank  in  the  Pennsylvania  Line.  In  1771, 
was  published  "  The  Royal  Spiritual  Magazine  or  Christ- 
ians Grand  Treasury  "  a  few  numbers  only  appeared. 
In  1775,  Robert  Aitken  printed  ^^  The  Pennsyhania  Maga^ 
zine  or  American  Monthly  Masemnr  Thomas  Paine  was 
editor,  and  one  of  the  principal  writers  for  this  journal. 
Many  of  the  articles  bear  the  impress  of  his  powerful 


1 5G  PROVINCIAL     L I T  E  K  A  T  U  R  E 

writing  J  and  the  jounial  i.s  on  otlicr  accounts  one  of  the 
best  which  appeared  before  the  Revolution. 


The  activity  of  the  Press  of  Philadelphia  before 
the  RevoUition,  and  the  general  diffusion  of  a  Hterary 
taste,  is  proved  by  the  Uirge  number  of  literary  produc- 
tions of  the  period  yet  extant.  It  is  not  possible  now, 
perhaps,  to  ascertain  the  exact  number  that  were  pub- 
lished ;  but  it  may  surprise  many  to  learn,  that  there  are 
in  the  City  Library  no  fewer  than  four  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine  works  printed  in  Philadelphia  before  the  Revolution. 
Of  these,  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  are  original  books 
and  pamphlets,  and  thirty-four  reprints  of  foreign  books 
and  pamphlets.  Many  were,  doubtless,  printed  which 
were  never  purchased  for  the  library,  and  some  that  were 
in  the  library  have  been  lost  or  destroyed.  Perhaps  one- 
third  might  safely  be  added  to  the  number  in  the  Ubrary, 
which  would  give  upwards  of  six  hundred  for  the  number 
of  works  printed  in  the  province. 


In  the  year  1766,  Robert  Bell,  who  did  a  good  deal 
for  literature  in  his  way,  came  to  Philadelphia.  He  was 
a  Scotsman  by  birth,  but  had  lived  several  years  in 
Dublin,  as  a  bookseller,  in  which  capacity  he  was  some 
time  the  partner  of  George  Alexander  Stevens,  so  well 
known  for  his  humor  and  facetiousness.  Bell  first  estab- 
lished himself  as  a  book  auctioneer,  and  afterwards  as  a 
bookseller.  In  1772,  he  undertook  a  stupendous  enter- 
prise for  the  time,  the  reprinting  of  Blackstone's  Com- 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  157 

mentaries,  in  four  volumes,  octavo,  with  a  supplement  in 
a  fifth  volume.  A  liberal  subscription,  however,  rewarded 
his  exertions,  and  he  shortly  afterwards  published  a 
second  edition  of  Blackstone  in  quarto,  and  editions  of 
Robertson's  Charles  the  Fifth,  and  of  Ferguson's  Essay  on 
Civil  Society,  besides  minor  works.  He  was  also  pul> 
Usher  of  the  original  edition  of  Paine's  celebrated  pam- 
phlet Common  Sense.  It  is  said  that  Paine  was  at  one 
time  in  Bell's  employ,  as  a  clerk.  After  the  war  broke 
out.  Bell,  finding  his  regular  business  as  a  bookseller  in- 
terrupted, resumed  that  of  selling  at  auction,  and  travelled 
from  New  Hampshire  to  Virginia  with  books  for  sale.  In 
the  course  of  one  of  these  expeditions,  he  died  at  Rich- 
mond, in  Virginia,  in  September,  1784.  In  business,  he 
was  perfectly  fair  and  upright,  and  is  said  to  have  been  a 
very  pleasant  companion.  He  had  a  vein  of  eccentricity, 
however,  in  his  composition,  which  appeared  sometimes 
in  his  advertisements.  Those  for  sales  at  auction  were 
commonly  headed :  "  Jewels  and  diamonds  to  be  sold  or 
sacrificed  by  Robert  Bell,  humble  provedore  to  the  senti- 
mentalists." Announcing  Blackstone's  Commentaries  and 
other  books  to  be  pubhshed  by  subscription,  he  invites  the 
pubHc  in  these  words  :  ^'^Intentional  encouragers,  who  wish 
for  a  participation  of  this  sentimental  banquet,  are  requested 
to  send  their  names  to  Robert  Bell,"  &c. 


Literature  and  Science  received  ample  encourage- 
ment, both  by  words  and  deeds,  from  the  Provincial 
Government  of  Pennsylvania.     Before  one  English  foot 


158  PUOVINCIAL     LITERATURE 

liad  ])C'cii  placed  on  the  soil  of  the  colony,  the  venerable 
and  illustrious  founder  issued  a  manifesto,  containing  the 
soundest  doctrines  of  political  philosophy,  and  the  mo8t 
convincing  reasons  in  support  of  them.  The  following 
passages  deserve  to  be  constantly  borne  in  mind  in  every 
district  in  this  country  : — 

"Governments,  like  clocks,  go  from  the  motion  men 
give  them ;  and,  as  governments  are  made  and  moved  by 
men,  so  by  them  they  are  ruined  too.  Wherefore,  gov- 
ernments rather  depend  upon  men  than  men  upon  gov- 
ernments. Let  men  be  good,  and  the  government  cannot 
be  bad ;  if  it  be  ill,  they  will  cure  it.  But  if  men  be  bad, 
let  the  government  be  ever  so  good,  they  will  endeavor  to 
warp  and  spoil  it  to  their  turn.  That,  therefore,  which 
makes  a  good  constitution  must  keep  it,  viz.,  men  of  wis- 
dom and  virtue, — qualities  that,  because  they  descend  not 
with  worldly  inheritances,  must  be  carefully  j^ropagated 
by  a  virtuous  education  of  youth, — for  which  after  ages 
will  owe  more  to  the  care  and  prudence  of  founders,  and 
the  successive  magistracy,  than  to  their  parents  for  their 
private  patrimonies." 

The  12th  Article  of  the  Frame  of  Government  provides 
in  express  terms,  "  That  the  Governor  and  Provincial 
Council  shall  erect  and  order  public  schools,  and  encour- 
age and  reward  the  authors  of  useful  sciences  and  laud- 
able inventions  in  the  province."  Among  the  Committees 
into  which  the  Provincial  Council  was  to  be  divided,  was 
"  a  Committee  of  Manners,  Education,  and  Arts,  that  all 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  159 

wicked  and  scandalous  living  may  be  prevented,  and  that 
youth  may  be  successfully  trained  up  in  virtue,  and  useful 
knowledge,  and  arts."  Such  were  the  sentiments  enter- 
tained at  the  outset  of  the  government,  and  the  provisions 
for  enforcing  them.  The  same  principles  appear  to  have 
been  cherished  at  every  stage  of  the  colonial  history,  of 
which  one  example  has  already  been  given  in  the  extract 
from  the  Charter  of  the  Friends'  School.  The  Penn 
Family  seem  to  have  been  uniformly  disposed  to  encour- 
age learning  and  science,  and  contributed  liberally  from 
their  private  funds  for  the  purpose.  Thomas  Penn,  who 
died  in  1775,  the  last  surviving  child  of  the  founder,  and 
who  is  said  to  have  been  "  the  worthiest  of  his  children, 
and  the  one  who  most  nearly  resembled  him  in  abilities 
and  virtues,"*  was  fond  of  literary  pursuits.  His  dona- 
tions to  the  College  of  Philadelphia  alone,  amounted  to 
about  twelve  thousand  dollars  in  money,  besides  the  grant 
of  one  half  of  a  manor  in  Bucks  County,  containing  up- 
wards of  three  thousand  acres.  He  also  founded  and 
endowed  a  public  library  in  Lancaster,  which,  in  compli- 
ment to  his  wife,  was  called  "  The  Juliana  Library." 

Nor  was  the  Assembly  of  the  province  at  any  time 
backward  in  affording  countenance  and  support  to  letters 
and  science.  Two  instances  of  their  liberality  deserve 
particular  mention.  In  the  session  of  1768-9,  the 
Assembly  aj)propriated  one  hundred  j)ounds  sterling  to 
the  purchase  of  a  reflecting  telescope,  with  a  micrometer, 
for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  Philosophical  Society  to 


*  Barton's  Life  of  Rittenhouse,  p.  119,  note  10. 


ICO  riiO  VINCI  AL     LITERATURE 

observe  tlie  transit  of  Veiiu.s ;  and  shortly  afterwards,  at 
the  same  session,  gave  an  additional  sum  of  one  hundred 
pounds,  to  defray  the  expense  of  erecting  observatories. 
In  1771,  they  granted  to  Dr.  Rittenhouse  the  sum  of 
three  hundred  pounds,  by  a  resolution  which  expressed 
that  it  was  given  "as  a  testimony  of  the  high  sense 
which  the  House  entertains  of  his  mathematical  genius 
and  mechanical  abiUties  in  constructing  his  orrery." 


NOTE   A, 


Some  light  is  thrown  upon  the  subject  by  the  following  extract 
from  Keith's  Journal  of  his  subsequent  travels,  of  which  mention  is 
made  in  another  part  of  this  memoir : 

"  I  happened  in  America,  while  I  was  there  travelling,  to  see  a 
book  lately  printed,  called  '  Neiv  England  Judged,^  having  a  printed 
appendix  to  it  by  John  Whiting,  Quaker,  who  has  set  up  of  late  for 
a  great  author  among  them,  and  who  is  extremely  ignorant  as  well 
as  confident  to  utter  falsehoods  and  abusive  slanders.  In  his  appen- 
dix, he  utters  a  notorious  falsehood  upon  me,  as  if  at  Philadelphia, 
about  the  year  1C)02,  I  had  fained  myself  a  prisoner;  and  to  make 
this  fiction  to  be  believed,  I  had  gone  to  the  porch  of  the  prison,  the 
prison  door  being  shut  against  me,  and  from  the  porch  of  the  prison 
had  writ  and  dated  a  paper  of  complaint  against  the  Quakers  for  my 
imprisonment ;  and  to  make  his  reader  take  the  greater  notice  of  it, 
he  has  caused  the  following  words  to  be  printed  on  the  margin  in 
great  black  letters:  George  Keith^s  Mock  Imprisonment.  Now  to 
prove  the  notorious  falsehood  of  this,  I  need  go  no  farther  than  a 
book  of  one  of  his  brethren,  viz.,  Samuel  Jennings,  printed  at  London, 
1694,  called  by  him  'The  State  of  the  Case,''  &c.,  wherein,  though 
he  has  uttered  many  falsehoods  concerning  the  state  of  the  case 


OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  161 

about  our  differences  in  principles  of  religion,  in  the  year  1691  and 
1692,  whereof  I  had  largely  detected  him  in  my  printed  reply  to  his 
book :  yet  he  saith  true  in  what  he  did  report  in  his  book  concerning 
two  persons  whom  the  Quakers  had  put  in  prison, — the  one  for  print- 
ing a  sheet  of  mine,  I  called  'An  Appeal,^  &c.,  and  the  other  for 
selling  one  or  two  of  them  when  printed.  The  name  of  the  printer  is 
William  Bradford;  the  name  of  the  other  is  John  Mackomh.  Now, 
concerning  them,  the  said  Quaker,  Samuel  Jennings,  reports  that 
they  signed  a  paper  from  the  prison,  when  they  signed  it  in  the 
entry,  common  to  the  prison  and  the  next  house.*  Thus,  he  gives 
the  true  matter  of  fact,  and  tells  truly  who  signed  that  paper  in  the 
entry  or  porch,  which  were  those  two  above-named  persons,  but  men- 
tions not  me  as  being  concerned  in  signing  that  paper,  either  in  the 
entry  or  porch,  or  anywhere  else.  And  to  be  sure,  if  I  had  been  one 
of  the  persons  who  had  signed  that  paper,  he  would  have  told  the 
world  of  it,  as  thereby  thinking  to  have  some  great  matter  against 
me.  For  he  chargeth  it  upon  these  two  above-mentioned  persons, 
William  Bradford  and  John  Mackomh,  that  it  was  deceit  in  them  to 
sign  a  paper  from  the  prison,  when  they  were  not  in  the  prison,  but 
in  the  porch  or  entry  of  it,  as  he  saith.  In  my  answer  to  him,  I  have 
showed  it  was  no  deceit,  nor  had  anything  blameworthy.  The  case 
was  this.  They  were  prisoners  by  a  warrant  from  some  Quaker 
Justices,  for  the  fact  above  mentioned,  and  had  been  detained  in 
prison  for  some  time,  and  were  ordered  to  be  kept  in  prison  until 
the  next  Court,  unless  they  gave  security  by  bonds  to  answer  at  the 
next  Court.  After  some  time,  the  jailor,  by  favor,  let  them  go  home, 
but  still  they  were  prisoners,  not  being  released  by  any  judicatory ; 
and  the  Quaker  Justices  delaying  to  bring  them  to  a  trial,  they  went 
to  the  prison  to  write,  and  sign  their  petition  from  the  prison  to  have 
their  trial  at  the  next  session  ;  but  it  happened  that  the  jailor  was  gone 
abroad,  and  had  the  key  of  the  prison  with  him,  so  that  they  could  not 
get  in.  Now,  I  see  no  deceit  or  insincerity  in  this,  more  than  in  the 
common  practice  of  many  Quakers,  who  have  printed  records  of  their 
suffering  imprisonment  (for  not  paying  tithes)  some  years,  and  yet 
they  often  had  liberty  to  go  home,  by  favor  of  the  jailors,  to  my 
certain  knowledge.     But  whether  William  Bradford  and  John  Mac- 


*  It  seems  from  this,  that  there  was  but  one  entry,  in  those  days,  for  the 
prison  and  the  adjoining  house  I 
11 


162  r  H  0  V  I  N  C  I  A  L     LITERATURE. 

komb  were  pfuilty  of  deceit  or  not,  is  not  material  to  the  present  case 
of  John  Whilinrj,  his  vile  slander,  as  if  I  had  been  the  person,  or  one 
of  the  persons  who  had  writ  tlint  paper  from  the  porch  or  entry  of  the 
prison.  This  is  a  sulTicicnt  proof  that  what  John  Whiting  has  thus 
printed  against  mo  was  not  from  the  infallible  spirit,  and  that  he  is, 
therefore,  by  George  Fox^s  sentence,  a  deceiver."     (Page  40,  &c.) 


A 

MEMOIR 


THE  CONTROVERSY 


WILLIAM  PENN  AND    LORD   BALTIMORE, 


RESPECTING  THE   BOUNDARIES   OF   PENNSYLVANIA   AND    MARYLAND. 


JAMES   DUNLOP,   ESQ., 

MEMBER  OF  THE  SENATE  OF   PENNSYLVANIA  FROM  FRANKLIN  COUNTY. 

Read  at  a  Meeting  of  the  Council,  Kovemher  lOfh,  1825. 


(163) 


A  MEMOIE,  ETC/ 


The  disputes  which  occurred  in  times  almost  forgotten, 
between  the  Proprietaries  of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland, 
respecting  the  boundaries  of  their  provinces,  afford  a  sub- 
ject of  curious,  if  not  useful  speculation.  Their  rise,  pro- 
gress, and  termination,  form  not  only  an  amusing  portion 
of  the  history  of  the  early  transactions  of  our  country,  but 
are  important,  as  intimately  connected  with  the  land 
titles  of  that  part  of  the  State  which  lies  within  the 
limits  of  the  disputed  territory.-|- 

The  clashing  of  the  many  grants  made  with  such 
lavish   profusion   by   the   sovereigns   of  Europe,  of  the 


*  A  short  Memoir  of  the  author  of  this  Essay  will  be  found  in 
I^otelL,  at  the  end  of  volume. — Editor. 

f  Since  this  Paper  appeared,  much  light  has  been  thrown  upon 
the  subject  of  the  boundary  line  between  Pennsylvania  and  Mary- 
land, in  the  following  publications : 

"Minutes  of  the  Proceedings  before  the  Hon.  John  Sergeant,  of 
Philadelphia,  in  the  matter  of  the  Pea  Patch  Island.  Referred  to 
him  as  sole  Arbitrator."  United  States  Senate  (Executive)  Docu- 
ment, No.  21,  30th  Congress,  1848. 

Report  of  Col.  J.  D.  Graham,  of  Corps  of  Topographical  Engineers. 
Pennsylvania  Senate  Journal,  1850,  Vol.  II.,  p.  -475. 

(165) 


IGG  WILLIAM     TENN 

savages  and  suil  of  the  New  World,  arose  from  their 
entire  ignorance  of  the  country.  The  thirst  for  gold,  the 
spirit  of  adventure,  and  zeal  of  religious  enthusiasm,  all 
demanded,  clamorously,  a  particixmtion  in  the  wealth,  in- 
dependence, or  retirement,  which  were  fondly  anticipated 
to  flow  from  the  mighty  discoveries  of  Cabot  and  Ves- 
pucci. By  virtue  of  the  fancied  right  of  priority  of  dis- 
covery, the  Crown  of  England  not  only  claimed  but 
exercised  the  power  of  parcelling  the  extensive  coasts 
and  territories  of  North  America  amongst  her  favorite 
countries  or  troublesome  subjects. 

Whether  this  assumed  authority  was  better  founded 
than  that  which  flowed  from  Papal  supremacy  to  the 
sovereigns  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  or  the  vacillating 
tenure  of  the  thinly-scattered  and  savage  aborigines,  it 
is  now  more  curious  than  useful  to  inquire.  For,  how- 
ever well  founded  the  title  derived  from  such  sources 
might  originally  have  been  considered,  time,  possession, 
and  power  have  given  them  a  stability  which  nothing 
can  endanger  but  the  weakness  and  corruption  of  the 
holders. 

From  an  ignorance  of  the  geography  of  the  dark  and 
boundless  wilderness  which  was  so  generously  divided, 
the  limits  of  the  numerous  grants  were  so  vaguely  desig- 

The  History  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line,  contained  in  an  Address, 
delivered  by  John  H.  B.  Latrobe,  of  Maryland,  before  the 
Ilistorical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  November  Sth,  1854.  Press 
of  the  Society,  Philadelphia,  1855. 

Mason  and  Dixon's  Line  :  a  History, — including  an  Outline  of  the 
Boundary  Controversy  between  Pennsylvania  and  Tirginia.  By 
James  Teech.     Pittsburg,  185Y,  pp.  58. — Editor. 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  167 

nated  as  invariably  to  create  confusion,  and  embroil  the 
claimants  in  difficulties  and  resentments,  which  required 
the  labor  and  patience  of  years  to  settle  and  allay. 

In  the  year  1681,  when  the  Charter  was  granted  to 
William  Penn,  the  distinguished  Founder  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, by  Charles  II.,  King  of  England,  almost  the  "whole 
country  included  in  its  limits  was  an  uncultivated  wild ; 
and  to  what  extent  the  country  was  settled  at  the  date 
of  the  Charter,  it  would,  perhaps,  be  difficult,  and,  from 
the  means  of  information  within  the  reach  of  the  author, 
impossible  to  ascertain  with  satisfactory  certainty.  As 
early  as  1627,*  the  Swedes  and  Fins  had  formed  estab- 
lishments within  the  Capes  of  Delaware;  and,  in  1630, 
Proud  (1  Hist.  Penn.,  pp.  115,  116)  says,  that  the  Dutch, 
or,  as  Bozman  (Hist.  Maryland,  p.  245)  thinks,  the 
Swedes  had  built  a  fort  at  a  place  now  called  Lewistown, 
in  the  State  of  Delaware ;  and  in  the  year  following,  the 
Swedes  had  pushed  their  fortifications  above  Wilmington, 


*  It  has  already  been  stated,  in  a  note  at  page  TO,  that  this  date  is 
incorrect,  for  the  Swedes  did  not  arrive  until  1638.  Bozman  was  led 
into  the  error  by  Proud,  whom  he  quotes ;  and  although  the  latter  is 
right  in  asserting  that  the  Dutch,  in  1630,  built  a  fort  at  "  Lewis- 
town,"  the  former  is  wrong  in  supposing  that  it  was  the  Swedes  who 
did  so.  The  region  was  called  by  the  Dutch  Swanendael,  also 
Hoornkill,  a  designation  probably  given  by  De  Yries,  in  compliment 
to  his  father,  a  resident  of  Iloorn,  a  town  in  the  Netherlands,  which 
was  subsequently  corrupted  into  Hoarkill. 

The  unfortunate  Dutch  colonists  who  arrived  under  De  Yries,  in 
1630,  and  were  the  first  Europeans  that  attempted  to  establish  them- 
selves on  the  western  side  of  the  Delaware,  did  not  long  survive : 
for,  after  the  departure  of  that  navigator,  a  misunderstanding  having 
arisen  between  them  and  the  Indians,  the  latter  treacherously  mur- 
dered the  entire  colony,  consisting  of  thirty-two  souls — Editor. 


1C8  WILMAM     I'ENN 

and  as  Iiigli  up  as  Chester.  The  Swedes,  says  the  same 
author  (1  Pr.,  205),  had  a  Meeting  House  at  Wicocoa, 
now  within  the  suburbs  of  Philadelphia ;  and  the  Friends 
one  at  Uphind  or  Chester,  another  at  Shackamaxon  or 
about  where  Kensington  now  stands,  and  a  third  at  the 
lower  Falls  of  the  Delaware  (Id.,  160,  IGl),  meaning,  I 
presume,  the  Falls  at  Trenton,  as  there  are  no  Falls  below 
that  place.  Proud  says,  that  there  was  not  a  single  house 
built  on  the  site  of  Philadelphia  when  it  was  laid  out  by 
the  Proprietary  and  his  Surveyor,  Thomas  Holme,  in 
1682 ;  and  that  on  his  arrival,  the  first  house  building  by 
George  Guest,  "  on  this  spot  of  ground,"  was  unfinished ; 
and  that  at  that  time,  many  of  the  early  settlers  and 
adventurers  had  their  holes  or  caves  for  their  residence 
in  the  high  bank  of  the  Delaware,  before  any  houses  were 
built  or  better  accommodation  prepared  for  them.  But 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  comitry,  in  1681,  was  partially 
settled  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  as  high  as  the  Falls 
(1  Pr.,  160,  161),  near  to  where  Philadelphia  now  stands, 
as  Penn  himself,  in  a  letter  to  the  Society  of  Freetraders, 
in  August,  1683  (1  Proud,  260,  261),  says,  that  "the 
Dutch  mostly  inhabit  those  parts  of  the  pro-\ance  that  lie 
upon  or  near  the  ba}^,  and  the  Swedes  the  freshes  of  the 
river  Delaware ;"  and  Proud  says  (1  Hist.  Penn.,  233), 
that  the  site  of  the  city  itself  was  claimed  by  some 
Swedes,  with  whom  Penn  exchanged  other  lands  at  a 
small  distance  for  it. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  to  what  extent  the  Enrjlish  had 
made  settlements  within  the  limits  of  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania,  as  early  as  the  date  of  William 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  169 

Penn's  Charter ;  but  that  they  had  long  exercised  domin- 
ion over  the  country  west  of  the  bay  and  river  Delaware, 
abundantly  appears  from  the  records  of  the  proprietary 
government  of  New  York  (certified  copies  of  which  are 
on  record  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Common- 
wealth at  Harrisburg).  Charles  II.  had  granted  to  his 
brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  in  1664,  an  immense  territory 
in  America,  embracing  the  Dutch  settlements  at  New 
York,  and  extending  southward  to  the  eastern  shore  of 
the  bay  and  river  Delaware ;  and  the  Duke,  in  the  same 
year,  issued  a  commission  to  Sir  Eobert  Carr,  to  subdue 
their  possessions  on  the  eastern  shore ;  and  after  the  con- 
quest, which  was  easily  effected,  governed  the  country  as 
an  appemlage  to  his  province  of  New  York,  by  his  heuten- 
ants,  till  1682,  when  he  released  his  interest  to  William 
Penn.  There  is  no  evidence  of  actual  settlements  made 
within  the  Hmits  of  Pennsylvania,  amongst  the  records 
alluded  to,  but  of  a  continued  and  anxious  care  over  the 
country  on  the  west  side  of  the  bay  and  river  Delaware, 
by  the  Governors  of  the  Duke,  residing  at  New  York; 
and  amongst  the  same  documents,  is  an  Indian  deed,  of 
as  early  date  as  1675,  to  Edmund  Andros,  Governor  and 
Lieuf&nant  of  the  Duke,  for  land  lying  at  least  twenty 
miles  above  Philadelphia.  This  deed  is,  perhaps,  the 
earhest  made  by  the  aborigines  to  the  English,  of  lands 
on  the  western  shore  of  the  Delaware,  and  exhibits  a 
curious  but  not  uncommon  uncertainty  of  boundary,  that 
strongly  displays  the  ignorance  of  the  whites  of  the  topo- 
graphy of  the  country.  It  describes  the  land  as  "  lying 
on  the  west  side  of  Delaware  River,  beginning  at  a  certain 


170  WILLIAM     TENN 

creek  next  the  cold  spring,  somewhat  above  Matinicum* 
Island,  about  eight  or  nine  miles  below  the  Falls,  as  far 
above  the  said  Falls  as  the  other  is  below  them,  or  furth- 
est that  way,  as  may  be  agreed  upon,  to  some  remarkable 
place,  for  the  more  certain  bounds;  as  also,  all  the  islands 
in  the  ri^-cr  Delaware  within  the  fore-mentioned  limits, 
both  below  and  above  the  Falls,  excepting  only  one 
island,  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Peter  Alrick's 
Island,  together  with  all  the  creeks,  &c.,  &c.,  to  the  said 
tract  of  land  belonging  along  the  river  and  heliind  into  the 
woods"  &c.  The  consideration,  amongst  the  detail  of 
ammunition,  clothing,  &c.,  exhibits  the  amusing  predilec- 
tion of  the  grave  Sachems  for  fifty  looking-glasses  and  one 
hundred  jewsharps.  It  also  contains  covenants  of  seizin 
and  quiet  enjoyment,  breaches  of  which,  I  presume,  could 
only  be  effectually  tried  by  the  sw^ord.  This  tract  of 
country  was  selected  probably  for  the  peculiar  excellence 
of  its  soil,  and  patents  were  granted  for  it  by  Andros  to 
Enghsh  settlers  before  the  country  bore  the  name  of 
Pennsylvania  (1  Proud,  217).  The  lands  below  at  that 
time  remained  in  the  tenure  of  the  Indians,  as  a  commis- 
sion was  three  years  afterwards  issued  by  Andros  to  Cant- 
well  and  Hannum,  to  purchase  from  the  savages  the  land 
as  yet  unpurchased  from  the  Indians,  "below  the  late 
purchase  at  the  Falls,  on  the  western  shore  of  Delaware 
River." 

The  Charter  of  Maryland,  which  its  proprietor  had  in- 

*  Xow  called  Burlington  Island,  lying  between  Bui'lington  and 
Bristol. — Upland  Record,  in  note,  p.  141, — Memoirs  of  Historical 
Society,  Vol.  YII. — Editor. 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  171 

tended  to  call  Crescentia,  but  which  was  designated  by  his 
majesty,  when  the  Charter  was  presented  to  him,  Terra 
Maria,  in  honor  of  his  Queen,  Henrietta  Maria,  was  granted 
by  Charles  I.,  in  1632,  to  Cecilius  Calvert,  Baron  of  Balti- 
more, his  "  well-beloved  and  trusty  servant."  This  grant, 
reciting  the  pious  and  laudable  zeal  of  the  Baron  of  Balti- 
more for  extending  the  Christian  rehgion  and  the  terri- 
tories of  the  empire,  and  his  desire  to  transport,  by  his 
own  industry  and  expense,  a  numerous  colony  to  a  certain 
region  hereafter  described,  in  a  country  hitlierto  unculti- 
vated in  the  parts  of  America,  and  jjartly  occupied  by 
savages  having  no  knowledge  of  the  Divine  Being,  trans- 
ferred unto  him,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  all  that  part  of  the 
peninsula  or  Chersonese  Ijang  in  the  parts  of  America 
between  the  ocean  on  the  east  and  the  Bay  of  Chesa- ' 
peake  on  the  west,  divided  from  the  residue  thereof  by  a 
right  line  drawn  from  the  promontory  or  headland  called 
Watkins'  Point,  situate  upon  the  bay  aforesaid,  near  the 
river  Wighes,  on  the  west,  unto  the  main  ocean  on  the 
east,  and  between  that  boundary  on  the  south  unto  that 
part  of  the  hay  of  Delaware  on  the  north  which  heth 
wnder  tJie  fortietli  degree  of  north  latitude,  from  the  equi- 
noctial, loliere  New  England  is  terminated:  and  all  the 
tract  of  that  land  within  the  metes  mider-written  (that  is 
to  say),  passing  from  the  said  bay  called  Delaware  Bay, 
in  a  right  line,  by  the  degree  aforesaid,  unto  the  true 
meridian  of  the  first  fountain  of  the  Potomac,  thence 
verging  towards-  the  south  unto  the  southern  bank  of  said 
river,  and  following  the  same,  &c. 

The  Lords  Baltimore  may  well  be  excused  for  pressing 


172  WILLIAM     PENN 

their  clniiiis  uikUt  this  grant  as  extensively  as  they  did, 
and  which  its  terms  seemed  so  strongly  to  justify;  hut 
there  were  two  hidden  sources  of  uncertainty  lurking 
under  the  language  of  their  Charter,  which  cost  the 
Proprietaries  of  Maryland  many  years  of  vexation  and 
expense. 

In  1G81,  King  Charles  II.  granted  to  William  Penn 
the  Charter  for  the  province  of  Pennsylvania.  This 
venerable  document,  which  is  in  the  office  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Commonwealth,  is  written  upon  large  rolls  of 
strong  parchment,  in  the  old  English  handwriting,  with 
each  Hne  underscored  with  lines  of  red  ink,  that  give  it  a 
curious  appearance.  The  borders  are  gorgeously  fur- 
belowed  with  heraldic  devices,  and  the  top  of  the  first 
*  page  exhibits  a  finely-executed  half-length  portrait  of  his 
majesty,  in  good  preservation.  Though  not  quite  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  old,  it  may  justly  be  designated  a  valuable 
piece  of  American  antiquity.  The  Charter  designates  the 
province  of  Pennsylvania  as  "  That  tract  of  country  or 
part  of  land  in  America,  with  the  islands  as  therein  con- 
tained, as  the  same  is  bounded  on  the  east  by  Delaware 
River,  from  twelve  miles  distance  northward  of  Newcastle 
town,  unto  the  forty-third  degree  of  north  latitude,  if  the 
said  river  doth  extend  so  far  northward,  but  if  the  said 
river  shall  not  extend  so  far  northward,  then  by  the  said 
river  so  far  as  it  doth  extend ;  and  from  the  head  of  the 
said  river,  the  eastern  bounds  are  to  be  determined  by  a 
meridian  line,  to  be  drawn  from  the  head  of  the  said 
river  to  the  said  forty-third  degree.  The  said  land  to 
extend  westward  five  degrees  of  longitude,  to  be  com- 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  173 

pleted  from  the  said  eastern  bounds ;  and  the  said  lands 
to  be  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  beginning  of  the  three 
and  fortieth  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  on  the  south  by 
a  circle  to  be  drawn  at  twelve  miles'  distance  from  New- 
castle northward  and  westward  unto  the  heginning  of  tlie 
fortieth  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  thence  by  a  straight 
line  westw^ard  to  the  limits  of  the  longitude  above  men- 
tioned," 

Penn,  it  is  said,  (Proud's  Hist.  Pa.,  188,  2  ed.,  208,  n.), 
claimed  under  this  Charter  unto  the  beginning  of  the 
fortieth  degree  of  north  latitude,  which  would  be  where 
the  thirty-ninth  degree  terminated.  But  as  I  have  seen 
no  evidence  of  such  preposterous  claim  from  Penn  him- 
self, and  as  it  involves  the  manifest  absurdity  of  a  radius 
of  twelve  miles  from  Newcastle  northward  intersecting  a 
degree  of  latitude  lying  so  much  further  south,  it  is  pro- 
bable it  was  never  seriously  urged.  The  ignorance  of  the 
King's  Council  of  the  geography  of  the  countrj^,  I  have  no 
doubt,  led  them  to  believe  that  the  thirty-ninth  degree  of 
north  latitude  lay  twelve  miles  north  of  Newcastle,  as  they 
were  probably  guided  in  their  description  by  the  chart  of 
the  celebrated  Captain  John  Smith ;  but  as  it  did  not  in 
fact,  and  the  bounds  were  fixed  by  the  twelve  mile  radius 
northward  of  Newcastle,  there  was  no  pretension  to  ex- 
tend it  further  south  than  the  twelve  miles  north  of  that 
place. 

It  was  highly  important  to  the  proprietor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania to  extinguish  the  claims  of  the  Duke  of  York,  who 
claimed  and  exercised  jurisdiction  upon  the  western  shore 
of  the  bay  and  river  Delaware,  as  an  appendage  to  his 


174  w  I L  L I A  :\r    r  e  n  N 

government  of  New  York;  as  tlie  procuring  liis  title  to 
that  country  would  enlarge  his  seaboard,  which  ]n"s  sagar 
cious  eye  perceived  was  wanted,  prevent  any  future  inter- 
ference with  his  province  itself,  and  afford  an  extensive 
outlet  to  the  produce  of  his  planters.  [Penn's  Letter  to 
the  Lords  of  the  Plantations,  1  Proud's  Hist.,  270-7.] 

Opposite  as  the  religious  and  political  opinions  of 
William  Penn  and  James,  Duke  of  York,  certainly  were ; 
and  as  we  must  believe,  in  spite  of  the  angry  conclusions 
of  the  Historical  KevicAv  (p.  18),  drawn  from  the  ridicu- 
lous stories  of  the  times,  the  former  always  was  a  par- 
ticular favorite  of  the  latter.  Penn,  therefore,  through 
his  influence  with  the  Duke,  obtained  from  him  in  the 
year  succeeding  the  date  of  his  Charter,  in  consideration 
of  his  regard  for  the  memory  and  many  faithful  services 
of  Admiral  Penn,  a  deed  of  release  of  all  the  claim  of  his 
royal  highness  to  the  country  within  the  limits  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  a  grant  of  his  claim  to  the  country  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Bay  of  Delaware^  as  far  south  as 
"  Whoarkill^  otherwise  called  Cape  Hinlopen,"  including 
the  town  of  Newcastle  and  a  district  of  twelve  miles 
around  it,  and  what  were  afterwards  called  by  Penn  the 
counties  of  Newcastle,  Kent,  and  Sussex.  This  tract  of 
country  was  long  afterwards  known  by  the  name  of  the 
territories  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  then  lower  counties 
of  Newcastle,  Kent,  and  Sussex,  and  now  constitutes  the 
State  of  Delaware.  It  appears,  from  the  manuscript 
sketch  of  the  notes  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  of  the  testimony 
taken  under  the  commissions  issued  in  the  famous  cause 
in  Chancery,  in  England,  between  the  Penus  and  Lord 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  175 

Baltimore  (and  now  in  the  Land  Office  at  Harrisburg), 
that  these  counties,  in  more  ancient  time,  were  called 
New  Amstel,  New  Hale,  and  Whoarkill.  Sussex  main- 
tained the  name  of  Whoarkill  until  after  the  surrender 
of  the  country  to  William  Penn. 

The  Proprietary  of  Pennsylvania  found  himself  imme- 
diately on  his  arrival  in  America,  in  1682,  involved  in 
extreme  difficulties  respecting  the  conflicting  claims,  of 
Charles,  Lord  Baltimore,  the  son  of  Cecelius,  the  original 
patentee  of  Maryland,  not  only  as  respected  the  western 
shore  of  the  Bay  of  Delaware,  but  also  as  to  the  southern 
limits  of  his  province  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  latter  claimed  with  much  plausibihty,  according  to 
the  terms  of  his  grant,  not  only  the  whole  "  Chersonese 
or  peninsula,  between  the  Bay  of  Chesapeake  and  Dela- 
ware," but  all  the  lands  lying  "  under  the  fortieth  degree 
of  north  latitude;"  as  respected  the  peninsula,  it  was 
objected  that,  as  his  grant  only  contemplated  the  transfer 
of  lands  which  were  ^^hactencw  incidfa,"  it  could  not  in- 
clude the  western  shore  of  Delaware,  which  had  been 
settled  several  years  before  its  date  by  the  Swedes  and 
Dutch.  If  this  obstacle  to  the  literal  construction  of  his 
Charter  could  have  been  surmounted,  Lord  Baltimore  had 
a  clear  right  to  the  whole  peninsula ;  but  it  is  apparent, 
if  the  settlements  of  the  Swedes  and  Dutch  had  been 
effiscted  before  1632,*  the  king  had  no  right  to  transfer  the 
territory  of  other  nations,  and  which  did  not  ajjpertain  to 
the  Crown  of  England.     That  such  settlements  had  been 

*  See  note  at  page  167. — Editor. 


17G  WILLIAM      PENN 

eflcctcd  at  tliat  early  period  .seems  incontrovertible,  and 
that  Lord  Baltimore  was  aware  of  tiieir  existance  is  ad- 
mitted by  Ktlfjj,  in  his  Landholder's  Assistant  (p.  1G5), 
as  he  had  been  in  Virginia  shortly  before  the  date  of  his 
Charter.  And,  indeed,  Governor  Stuyvesant,  in  a  mani- 
festo he  transmitted  to  Lord  Baltimore,  respecting  the 
claim  of  the  Dutch  to  the  shores  of  Delaware  Bay,  asserts 
their  having  had  a  settlement  at  Cape  Ilenlopen  as  early 
as  before  the  planting  of  Virginia,  but  that  it  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  Indians. 

Yet  it  seems  very  unlikely  that  the  King's  Council 
could  have  been  entirely  ignorant  of  those  settlements  or 
of  Clayborne's,  on  Kent  Island,  in  the  Bay  of  Chesapeake, 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  phrase  '■^])artly  inhabited,"  in 
the  preamble  to  the  Charter,  was  inserted  purposely  to 
embrace  any  settlements  within  its  limits. 

But  it  was  afterwards  alleged  against  the  validity  of 
his  lordship's  Charter,  that  his  majesty  was  deceived  in 
the  representations  made  to  him  of  the  countr}^  being 
wholly  uncultivated,  and  that  therefore  the  Charter  was 
void,  at  least  so  far  as  respected  the  cultivated  parts. 
The  law  of  England  holding,  with  courteous  deference  to 
royal  grantors,  that  if  the  king  was  deceived  in  the  grant, 
or  granted  a  greater  estate  than  he  had  himself,  the  grant 
was  wholly  invalid  (1  Co.,  144 ;  Com.  Dig.  Grant,  8  G. ;  1 
Ves.,  452).  This  doctrine  always  operated  beneficially 
for  the  Crow^n ;  and  amounted,  during  the  terrors  of  the 
Star  Chamber,  to  saving  that  royal  donors  might  revoke 
their  Charters  whenever  it  suited  their  pohcy  or  conveni- 
ence.    This  imputation  upon  the  validity  of  Lord  Balti- 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  177 

more's  Patent  was  stated  in  the  bill  (said  to  have  been 
penned  by  Mr.  Murray,  afterwards  Lord  Mansfield, — Bozr 
mans  Maryland)  filed  in  Chancery,  in  England,  by  the 
Penns  v.  Lord  Baltimore,  the  trial  of  which  is  reported  in 
1  Ves.,  450.  The  grant,  however,  was  void,  or  might  be 
construed  to  pass  all  the  right  of  the  Crown,  such  as  it 
was,  to  the  settled  parts  of  the  country,  just  as  his 
majesty  might  be  pleased  to  decree;  and  as  they  were 
afterwards  reduced  by  the  British  arms,  they  might 
have  been  considered  as  inuring  to  the  use  of  the 
patentee. 

The  grant  of  Maryland  was  at  least  as  valid  as  that 
made  in  1664,  by  King  Charles  11.  to  his  brother  James, 
Duke  of  York,  of  the  Dutch  settlements,  called  by  them 
the  New  Netherlands,  embracing  in  part  what  is  now  the 
States  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  at  a  time  when  the 
Enghsh  government  and  the  States  generally  were  at 
peace,  and  in  violation  of  Oliver  Cromwell's  treaty  of 
1653,  which  guaranteed  to  the  Dutch  the  full  enjoyment 
of  their  possessions  in  America.  It  is  true,  that  at  that 
time  the  two  governments  were  not  on  very  good  terms, 
and  were  growling  at  each  other  no  little,  but  there  was 
no  open  rupture  to  justify  the  proceeding  or  add  validity 
to  the  grant,  as  war  did  not  break  out  till  several  months 
afterwards.     [6  Hume's  Hist.  Eng.,  283.] 

The  Duke  of  York  conquered  not  only  the  Dutch  settle- 
ments within  the  limits  of  his  grant,  which  was  bounded 
westward  by  the  bay  and  river  Delaware,  but  in  the  same 
year  commissioned  Sir  Robert  Carr  to  subdue  their  pos- 
sessions on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  same  bay  and  river ; 

12 


178  W  I  T.  L  I  A  ^r     r  E  N  N 

and  aflcr  (lieir  reduction,  wliicli  was  easily  effected,  exer- 
cised sovereignty  over  them  as  an  appendage  to  his  gov- 
ernment of  New  York,  till  1G82,  when  he  transferred  his 
claim  to  the  western  shore  and  Bay  of  Delaware  to 
William  Penn. 

Lord  Baltimore's  claim  to  the  land  lying  under  the 
fortieth  degree  of  north  latitude,  agreeably  to  the  lan- 
guage of  his  Charter,  was  urged  with  equal  plausibility 
and  as  little  success.  He  insisted,  with  much  apparent 
reasonableness,  that  the  words  "which  lieth  under  the 
fortieth  degree  of  north  latitude,"  in  his  Charter,  meant 
certainly  a  northward  extension  of  his  boundary  beyond 
the  termination  of  the  thirty-ninth,  and  that  he  was 
entitled,  by  the  plain  and  express  words  of  his  Patent, 
to  extend  his  limits  to  the  forty-first  degree  of  north 
latitude,  and  embrace  the  whole  fortieth  degree.  But  the 
weakness  of  his  claim  to  the  country  north  of  the  thirty- 
ninth  degree  will  be  manifest,  when  we  reflect  that  his 
Charter  limits  his  northern  boundary  expressly  to  the 
"  Bay  of  Delaware,"  and  that  consequently  he  could  not, 
without  going  beyond  a  designated  natural  monument  of 
his  boundaries,  extend  his  northern  line  beyond  the  point 
where  the  bay  terminates,  and  that  the  limits  of  the 
Patent  must  be  construed  with  reference  to  the  informa- 
tion of  the  country  before  the  Council,  when  it  was 
granted.  That  information,  it  would  seem,  consisted 
entirely  of  the  historical  account  and  chart  of  that  part 
of  the  New  World,  by  the  celebrated  Captain  John 
Smith,  as  is  alleged  in  the  Bill  of  Chancery  already  men- 
tioned, and  supported  by  the  testimony  taken  under  the 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE,  179 

coininissions  issued  to  America  in  that  cause,  as  appears 
bj  the  rough  drafts  of  it  taken  for  the  Penns  by  Mr. 
Hamilton,  and  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Secretar}^  of  the 
Land  Office  of  Pennsylvania.  James  Logan  deposed 
"  that  Captain  Smith's  History  of  Virginia  was  the  best, 
as  it  was  the  first  book  published  by  any  Englishman  of 
that  country ;  and  that  his  map  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay, 
so  called  at  that  time,  and  the  parts  adjacent,  was  the 
most  correct  account  of  the  first  discoveries  of  a  new 
country  he  had  ever  seen ;  and  that  he  neither  knew  or 
believed  any  other  account,  or  drafts,  or  maps  of  that 
country,  were  published  before  1632,"  the  date  of  Lord 
Baltimore's  Charter;  and  testimony  of  a  similar  import 
was  taken  from  other  witnesses  well  acquainted  with  that 
part  of  the  country.  As  these  charts,  it  appears,  fixed 
the  fortieth  degree  of  north  latitude  at  the  head  of  the 
Bay  of  Delaware,  and,  if  the  Charter  was  to  be  construed 
with  reference  to  the  intelligence  before  the  Council,  at 
the  time  it  issued,  as  was  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney  and 
Sohcitor-Generals,  Ryder,  Yorke,  Willes,  and  Weary,  the 
northern  limits  should  be  restricted  to  those  natural 
boundaries  by  which  they  were  designated,  and  not  as 
the  latter  remarks,  "  by  an  imaginary  point  of  the 
heavens,"  although  subsequent  and  more  accurate  obser- 
vations might  have  ascertained  that  latitude  to  lie  much 
further  north  than  the  head  of  the  bay. 

Lord  Baltimore  alleged  that  the  fortieth  degree  of 
north  latitude  had  been  ascertained,  and  part  of  the  line 
run  in  1681,  in  pursuance  of  a  letter  of  the  king;  but  the 
Proprietary  of  Pennsylvania  denied  that  any  such  line 


180*  WILLIAM      I'KNN 

lijid  been  run,  imd  (liiit  ifjiiiy  iitteinpt  liad  been  made  for 
that  purpose,  it  was  done  without  his  knowledge  or  con- 
sent by  Lord  Baltimore's  agents  (1  Proud,  277),  and  in 
violation  of  his  Charter.  The  claims  of  Maryland  were 
asserted  with  continued  acrimony,  violence,  and  occa- 
sional bloodshed,  and  as  pertinaciously  resisted,  until  they 
were  finally  terminated  and  abandoned  in  1760,  by  the 
mutual  agreement  of  the  parties. 

As  the  Duke  of  York  claimed,  by  right  of  conquest,  the 
settlements  on  the  western  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Delaware, 
and  had,  by  his  deed  of  1682,  transferred  to  William 
Penn  his  title  to  that  country,  embracing  the  town  of 
Newcastle  and  twelve  miles  around  it  (as  a  reasonable 
portion  of  land  attached  to  it),  and  as  far  down  as  what 
was  then  called  Cape  Henlopen ;  an  important  subject  of 
controversy  w^as  the  true  situation  of  that  cape,  and 
the  ascertainment  of  the  southern  and  western  bound- 
aries of  the  country  along  the  bay,  as  transferred  by  the 
Duke's  deed. 

Though  Charles,  Lord  Baltimore,  as  I  have  heard,  was 
a  man  of  the  fashionable  world,  and  deeply  devoted  to  its 
pleasures,  yet  he  w^as  by  no  means  inactive  in  the  pro- 
tection of  his  interest  and  in  the  prosecution  of  his  claims. 
After  two  personal  interviews  in  America,  the  Proprie- 
taries separated  without  coming  to  any  arrangement  and 
with  mutual  recriminations  and  dissatisfaction.  And 
they  each  wrote  to  the  Lords  of  Plantations,  excusing 
themselves  and  blaming  the  other.  Li  1683,  Lord  Balti- 
more petitioned  the  king  to  make  Penn  no  fresh  or  con- 
firmatory grant,   and  urged  the  plausibiHty  of  his  own 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  181 

claims  (1  Proud's  Hist.,  293) ;  and,  in  the  same  year, 
issued  a  proclamation,  offering  lands  at  lower  rates  than 
usual  within  the  disputed  territory  (Vid.  265,  N.),  for  the 
purpose  of  inducing  settlers  to  take  out  their  titles  under 
his  government.  The  issuing  of  those  proclamations  he 
afterwards  very  uncandidly  denied  to  Penn's  agent,  until 
his  memory  was  refreshed  by  their  production,  and  then 
refused  to  recall  them,  alleging  (1  Proud's  Hist.,  272) 
that  they  proclaimed  only  the  ancient  prices.  In  the 
same  year,  he  commissioned  Colonel  Talbot  to  demand  of 
William  Penn  all  the  lands  lying  south  of  the  forty-first 
degree  of  north  latitude  (1  Proud,  374) ;  and  his  agents 
shortly  after  made  several  attempts,  by  force,  to  reduce 
to  submission  to  his  authority  the  planters  who  lived  in 
the  disputed  borders  under  Pennsylvania  titles,  and  kept 
the  country  in  continual  alarm. 

At  length,  in  1685,  one  important  step  was  taken 
towards  the  decision  of  the  conflicting  claims  of  Mary- 
land and  Pennsylvania,  by  a  decree  of  King  James' 
Council,  which  ordered,  "  that  for  avoiding  further  differ- 
ences, the  tract  of  land  lying  between  the  Bay  of  Dela- 
ware and  the  eastern  sea,  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Chesa- 
peake Bay  on  the  other,  he  divided  into  equal  parts,  by  a 
line  from  the  latitude  of  Cape  Henlopen,  to  the  fortieth 
degree  of  north  latitude,  the  southern  boundary  of  Penn- 
sylvania by  Charter ;  and  that  the  one-half  thereof,  lying 
towards  the  Bay  of  Delaware  and  the  eastern  sea,  be 
adjudged  to  belong  to  his  majesty,  and  the  other  half  to 
Lord  Baltimore,  as  comprised  in  his  Charter."  (1  Proud, 
293,  N.)      The  power  of  the  King's  Council  to  decide 


182  W  I  L  L  I  A  M     r  E  N  N 

upon  diisputed  proprietary  boundaricH,  and  to  enlarge  or 
restrict  their  limits,  is  fully  rew)gnized  in  the  neveral 
opinions  of  the  eminent  Council  already  alluded  to, 
unless  when  the  parties  had  entered  into  agreement  to 
settle  their  disputes  themselves. 

This  decree  of  King  James,  which  evidently  exhibits  a 
partiality  towards  the  claims  of  Penn,  in  decreeing  the 
eastern  half  of  the  peninsula  to  his  majesty,  with  whom 
Lord  Baltimore  could  not  presume,  and  indeed  had 
declined  to  dispute,  instead  of  to  the  Proprietary  him- 
self, by  no  means  removed  the  difficulties  which  hung 
over  this  tedious,  expensive,  and  vexatious  litigation. 
For,  as  we  will  hereafter  see,  there  existed  as  much  un- 
certainty with  respect  to  the  true  situation  of  Cape  Hen- 
lopen,  and  the  ascertainment  of  the  middle  of  the  Penin- 
sula, as  any  points  in  contest. 

However,  after  continued  altercation  between  the  Pro- 
prietaries and  their  respective  settlers,  which  was  inter- 
rupted and  perhaps  protracted  by  the  death  of  William 
Penn,  in  1718,  and  the  death  of  the  first  Charles,  Lord 
Baltimore,  who  escaped  from  his  worldly  troubles  in  1714, 
his  grandson  of  the  same  name,  and  great  grandson  of 
Cecelius,  the  original  patentee,  entered  into  articles  of 
agreement  with  John  Penn,  Eichard  Penn,  and  Thomas 
Penn  (who  had  become,  by  the  Will  of  their  fjither,  sole 
Proprietaries  of  his  American  possessions),  on  the  10th 
of  May,  1732,  which  I  suppose  they  fancied  would  settle 
their  respective  boundaries  to  their  mutual  satisfaction. 

By  this  celebrated  agreement,  amongst  other  things 
not   so   important   to   the   object  of  this   essay,  it   was 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  183 

mutually  covenanted  and  agreed,  that  the  chart  annexed 
to  the  agreement,  which  embraced  the  country  in  dispute 
and  the  adjacent  parts  of  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Virginia,  was  a  correct  impression  of  the  charts  sent  over 
to  the  contracting  parties ;  that  they  would  regulate  their 
negotiations  by  it ;  that  a  semicircle  should  be  drawn  at 
twelve  English  statute  miles  around  Newcastle,  agreeably 
to  the  deed  of  the  Duke  of  York  to  William  Penn,  in 
1682 ;  that  an  east  and  west  line  should  be  drawn,  begin- 
ing  at  Cape  Henlopen  (which  was  admitted  to  be  below 
Cape  CorneUus)  and  running  westward  to  the  exact 
middle  of  the  Peninsula ;  that  from  the  exact  middle  of 
the  Peninsula,  between  the  two  bays  of  Chesapeake  and 
Delaware,  and  the  end  of  the  line  intersecting  it  in  the 
latitude  of  Cape  Henlopen,  a  line  should  be  run  north- 
ward, so  as  to  form  a  tangent  with  the  periphery  of  the 
semicircle  at  Newcastle,  drawn  with  the  radius  of  twelve 
English  statute  miles,  whether  such  line  should  take  a 
due  north  course  or  not ;  that,  after  the  said  northwardly 
line  should  touch  the  Newcastle  semicircle,  it  should  be 
run  further  northward,  until  it  reached  the  same  latitude 
as  fifteen  English  statute  miles  due  south  of  the  most 
southern  part  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia ;  that  from  the 
northern  point  of  such  line  a  due  west  line  should  be  run, 
at  least  for  the  present,  across  the  Susquehanna  River 
and  twenty-five  miles  beyond  it,  and  to  the  western 
limits  of  Pennsylvania,  when  occasion  and  the  imj^rove- 
ments  of  the  country  should  require ;  that  that  part  of 
the  due  west  line  not  actually  run,  though  imaginary, 
should  be  considered  to  be  the  true  boundary  of  Mary- 


184  W  I  I.  L  I  A  M      1'  K  N  N 

land  and  rciiii.sjlvaiiia  j  tliat  within  two  niuntlis,  soven 
Commisaioners  should  be  appointed  ])y  each  of  the  con- 
tracting parties,  any  three  or  more  oi'  whom  should  be  a 
quorum,  to  run  and  mark  the  said  boundaries;  that  the 
Commissioners  should  commence  their  operations  as  early 
as  October  and  finish  in  December  of  the  same  year,  with 
all  fairness  and  despatch ;  that  the  route  should  be  well 
marked  by  trees  and  other  natural  objects,  and  designated 
by  stone  pillars,  sculptured  with  the  arms  of  the  contract- 
ing parties,  lacing  their  respective  possessions ;  and  that, 
in  case  a  quorum  of  the  Commissioner  of  either  party 
failed  to  attend,  that  the  defaultilig  party  should  forfeit 
to  the  other  the  sum  of  five  thousand  pounds. 

This  important  document,  though  drawn  with  all  im- 
aginable skill  and  precision,  from  heads  furnished  by  the 
high  contracting  parties  themselves  (1  Ves.,  451),  and 
seemingly  so  free  of  ambiguity,  yet  was  afterwards  the 
subject  of  much  htigation  and  cavil,  both  in  England  and 
America.  But  as  it  was  finally  carried  into  complete 
effect  in  all  its  parts,  it  affords  information  highly  inter- 
esting. It  accounts  for  the  boundaries  of  what  is  now 
the  State  of  Delaware,  then  called  the  three  lower 
counties  of  Ne\vcastle,  Kent,  and  Sussex;  and  explains 
why  the  point  which  is  noticed  on  the  majDS,  was  pro- 
duced between  the  semicircle  around  Newcastle  and  the 
line  running  through  the  Peninsula  and  past  the  place  of 
contact  with  it,  to  within  fifteen  miles  south  of  the  lati- 
tude of  Philadelphia. 

The  developement  of  the  negotiations  between  Lord 
Baltimore   and   the  Proprietary  of  Pennsylvania   shows 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  185 

the  anxiety  and  vexation  suffered,  and  the  immense 
expense  incurred  by  both  parties  in  ascertaining  the 
limits  of  their  respective  grants.  In  the  agreement  of 
1732,  each  party  fancied  they  had  made  important  con- 
cessions and  sacrifices  for  the  sake  of  peace.  That  Lord 
Baltimore  really  thought  so,  there  can  be  little  doubt;  for 
he  seems  by  his  Charter,  if  it  was  valid  at  all,  to  have  a 
very  plausible  pretension,  not  only  to  all  the  uncultivated 
lands  covered  by  the  fortieth  degree,  but  even  to  the  cul- 
tivated shores  of  the  Bay  of  Delaware.  Taking  from  him 
however  the  settled  country  in  that  quarter  at  the  date 
of  his  grant  in  1632,  and  which  reached  perhaps  up 
nearly  to  Philadelphia,  and  leaving  the  settlements  a 
reasonable  portion  of  back  country,  he  might  well  sup- 
pose himself  entitled  fairly  to  extend  his  northern  limits 
to  the  beginning  of  the  forty-first  degree  of  north  latitude, 
instead  of  stopping  fifteen  miles  below  that  city.  This 
would  have  given  him  a  strip  of  land  now  forming  a  very 
valuable  portion  of  Pennsylvania,  constituting  a  great 
part  of  what  is  now  the  counties  of  Philadelphia,  Chester, 
Lancaster,  York,  Adams,  Franklin,  Bedford,  Somerset, 
Fayette,  and  Greene.  The  Penns  evidently  were  gainers 
by  the  agreement,  and  made  no  concession  of  territory. 
They  certainly  had  the  advantage  of  the  Maryland  Pro- 
prietaries in  coolness  and  circumspection,  and  the  dis- 
putes, however  tedious,  expensive,  and  irksome  to  them, 
must  have  been  equally  so  to  him.  William  Penn  pos- 
sessed, during  his  whole  life,  the  advantage  of  Lord 
Baltimore,  in  his  favor  at  court.  He  was  upon  the  most 
intimate  footing  with  King  James,  so  much  so,  indeed,  as 


186  WILLIAM      I'ENN 

to  have  Ix'on  currently  Huspocted,  as  he  .says  liiinsolf,  of 
being  a  Jesuit,  lie  had,  as  well  as  his  father,  Admiral 
Penn,  not  only  rendered  important  personal  services  to 
that  Prince,  but  inculcated  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedi- 
ence, and  of  rendering  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are 
Ca3sar's, — a  doctrine  so  sweet  and  soothing  to  the  royal 
ears  of  the  house  of  Stewart.  After  the  revolution, 
though  William  Penn  was  in  disgrace  at  court,  in  the 
reign  of  King  William,  on  account  of  his  constancy  to  his 
unfortunate  benefoctor,  yet  Lord  Baltimore  w^as  no  less 
so,  as  being  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  on  a,ccount  of  some 
delay  in  proclaiming  in  his  province  the  accession  of  the 
Protestant  dynasty,  and  was  strongly  threatened  with 
deprivation  of  Charter  by  scire  facias.  The  claims  of 
Penn,  during  James'  reign,  were  somewhat  the  cause  of 
the  Crown ;  and,  in  King  William's  time,  they  were 
actually  so,  as  the  Crown  had  then  resumed  the  govern- 
ment of  Pennsylvania  and  its  territories.  And  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne,  as  the  British  Government  were  in 
treaty  with  the  Proprietary  of  Pennsylvania,  for  the 
entire  purchase  of  his  rights  to  his  provinces,  for  the  sum 
of  twelve  thousand  pounds,  and  had  actually  paid  him 
one  thousand  pounds  upon  the  strength  of  the  negotia- 
tion, the  Lord  Baltimore  must  have  felt  the  pressure  of 
his  situation  and  the  obvious  advantage  of  his  opponents, 
and  despaired  of  ever  seeing  his  pretensions  finally  suc- 
cessful. 

All  these  untoward  circumstances  must  have  influenced 
the  minds  of  the  Lords  Baltimore  during  the  progress  of 
the  transaction,  previous  to  the  agreement  of  1732,  and 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  187 

induced  them  to  recede  from  pretensions  which  they  had 
.persisted  in  with  sufficient  pertinacity  and  violence,  and 
which  were  abandoned  subsequently  wdth  much  reluct- 
ance, and  many  captious  objections. 

So  far  in  the  progress  of  those  important  negotiations, 
the  Lords  Baltimore  may  not  be  blameable  to  a  great 
degree,  but  the  transactions  w^liich  transpired  subse- 
quently, and  the  many  frivolous  and  captious  objections, 
and  unreasonable  constructions  attempted  to  be  put  upon 
their  contract  of  1732,  by  their  agents,  showed  more  a 
disposition  to  oppose  and  protract  than  to  promote  the 
adjustment  of  their  disputes  agreeably  to  that  instrument. 
Lord  Baltimore,  it  is  true,  by  his  counsel,  in  the  argument 
of  the  cause  in  Chancery,  in  England,  which  arose  out  of 
the  agreement,  disavowed  their  conduct,  but,  at  the  same 
time,  urged  the  invalidity  of  the  agreement,  on  the  ground 
of  impositions  on  the  part  of  the  Penns  and  his  own  igno- 
rance of  the  nature  of  his  rights. 

Every  obstacle  seems  to  have  been  throw^n  in  the  way 
of  carrying  the  agreement  between  the  parties  into  oper- 
ation, by  Lord  Baltimore  and  his  agents,  who  manifested 
an  anxious  desire  to  evade  its  provisions. 

The  public  records  at  Harrisburg  furnish  no  detail  of 
what  transpired  between  the  Commissioners  who  met  at 
Newcastle,  to  run  the  lines  as  agreed  upon,  though  the 
minutes  of  their  transactions  seems  to  have  been  volum- 
inous (Provincial  Eecords,  Vol.  K.,  p.  354) ;  and  what 
will  be  here  stated  of  them,  is  taken  from  the  articles  of 
agreement  entered  into  between  Frederick,  Lord  Balti- 
more, and  Thomas  and  Richard  Penn,  in  17G0. 


188  AVILLIAM     PENN 

There  are  great  deficiencies  in  the  early  public  records 
of  the  Provincial  Government.  When  the  Revolutionary 
War  broke  out,  they  were  in  the  hands  of  their  Secretary, 
Joseph  Shippen,  who,  I  have  been  mformed,  when  they 
were  peremptorily  demanded  by  the  Commonwealth, 
made  a  very  reluctant  and  mutilated  return,  embracing 
only  the  books  of  the  provincial  records,  and  excluding 
all  the  loose  documents  of  his  office. 

The  Commissioners  made  little  or  no  progress  in  effect- 
ing the  object  of  their  appointment,  and  were  under  the 
necessity  of  dispersing  without  coming  to  any  definite 
arrangements.  Lord  Baltimore's  Commissioners  behaving, 
as  Lord  Hardwick  afterwards  remarked  (1  Ves.,  455), 
with  great  chicanery  through  their  whole  negotiations. 

One  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Penns  arriving  hall* 
an  hour  or  so  later  than  the  period  designated,  the  Mary- 
land Commissioners  at  first  objected  to  the  proceeding, 
alleging  that  the  contract  was  broken,  and  the  five  thous- 
and pounds  penalty  forfeited ;  and  when  that  point  was 
waived,  they  insisted  that  the  semicircle  around  New- 
castle should  be  draw^n  with  a  peripliery,  and  not  a  radius 
of  twelve  miles,  thus  shutting  their  ej'es  to  the  very 
words  and  manifest  intention  of  what  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor declared  to  be  the  plainest  part  of  the  agreement. 
They  made  further  difficulties  about  the  centre  of  the 
semicircle  around  the  to^vn  (w^hich  it  seems,  even  in 
those  early  days,  covered  a  considerable  extent  of 
ground),  and  refused  to  consider  the  true  situation  of 
Cape  Ilenlopen  to  be  Avhere  the  Proprietaries  themselves 
had  fixed  it. 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  189 

And  Lord  Baltimore,  the  year  following,  1734,  (Kilty's 
Landholder,  p.  171,)  in  direct  violation  of  his  contract, 
presented  a  petition  to  his  majesty,  prajing  for  a  confir- 
mation of  his  Charter,  as  made  to  his  great-grandfather, 
Cecelius,  the  original  patentee ;  but  I  believe  it  was  not 
acted  upon,  probably  on  the  ground  that  as  the  bound- 
aries had  been  settled  by  the  parties  themselves  in  their 
articles  of  agreement,  the  Council  had  no  authority  to 
interfere,  as  their  jurisdiction  was  confined  to  original  un- 
settled conflicting  chartered  grants  of  colonial  territory ; 
and  the  consideration  of  his  pra3'er  was  postponed,  to 
give  the  parties  an  opportunity  of  trying  the  validity  or 
abandonment  of  their  articles  of  agreement  of  1732,  by  a 
judicial  tribunal. 

In  1735,  John,  Richard,  and  Thomas  Penn  filed  a  Bill 
in  Chancery  against  Lord  Baltimore,  praying  for  a  decree 
of  specific  performance  of  the  articles ;  which,  from  the 
death  of  John  Penn,  and  the  necessity  of  adding  other 
parties,  and  the  unconscionable  delay  incident  to  proceed- 
ings in  that  Court,  was  not  finally  pronounced  for  sixteen 
years. 

In  the  meantime,  the  quiet  of  the  provinces  continuing 
to  be  interrupted,  and  riots  and  disturbances  occurring 
from  the  violence  of  Maryland  pretensions,  both  parties 
applied,  in  1737,  to  the  King's  Council,  for  some  order 
which  should  lessen  or  allay  these  ferments.  A  decree 
was  made,  but  not  having  been  carried  into  operation 
was  rescinded,  and  the  claimants  again  appeared  person- 
ally, and  being  heard  by  the  Council,  the  consideration 
of  the  subject  was  adjourned  upon  an  intimation  of  the 


190  W  I  LL  I  A  M      TK  N  N 

proI)aI»ili(y  of  jin  iiinir;il)l('  arrangement.  Tliiw  wuh  liap- 
pily  eflected.  It  was  agreed,  between  tlie  liigli  contract- 
ing parties,  "that  all  the  vacant  land  not  now  possessed 
hy  or  under  either  of  them,  on  the  east  side  of  Susque- 
hanna River  down  as  far  as  fifteen  miles  and  a  quarter 
south  of  the  latitude  of  the  most  southern  part  of  the  city 
of  Philadelphia ;  and  on  the  west  side  of  Susquehanna,  as 
far  south  as  fourteen  miles  and  three-quarters  south  of  the 
latitude  of  the  most  southern  part  of  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia, should  be  subject  to  the  temporary  and  provisional 
jurisdiction  of  Pennsylvania ;  and  that  to  all  vacant  land 
not  possessed  by  or  under  either,  on  both  sides  of  the 
Susquehanna,  south  of  the  said  temporary  limits,  should 
be  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Maryland,  until  the 
boundaries  should  be  finally  settled ;  and  that  the  provis- 
ionary  and  temj)orary  limits,  as  thus  established,  should 
continue  until  the  boundaries  were  finally  settled,  but  to 
be  without  prejudice  to  either  party."  And  when  this 
convention  was  reported  to  the  Council,  his  majesty  was 
pleased  to  order  "  That  the  Proprietaries  of  the  respective 
provinces  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  do  cause  the 
said  agreement  to  be  carried  into  execution  (Provincial 
Eccord,  Vol.  K.,  p.  61)."  The  order  was  according!}'  pro- 
mulgated by  proclamation  in  the  provinces,  and  Commis- 
sioners were,  the  following  year,  appointed  to  run  the 
"  temporary  Hne :"  Richard  Peters  and  Lawrence  Grow- 
den  on  the  part  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Colonel  Levin  Gale 
and  Samuel  Chamberlaine  on  that  of  Maryland.  These 
Commissioners  commenced  their  active  operations  in  the 
spring  of  1739;  and,  after  proceeding  as  far  as  the  eastern 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  191 

bank  of  the  Susquehanna,  were  interrupted  by  the  depart- 
ure of  Colonel  Gale,  on  account  of  death  and  sickness  in 
his  family,  and  the  declaration  of  Mr.  Chamberlaine  that 
he  had  no  authority  to  continue  operations  without  the 
attendance  of  his  colleague.  The  Pennsylvania  Commis- 
sioners, deeming  their  power  to  proceed  confined  to  a 
united  operation  with  those  of  Maryland,  received  further 
instructions  to  proceed  alone  from  Governor  Thomas. 
They  accordingly  did  so,  and  run  the  line  westward  of 
the  Susquehanna,  "  to  the  most  western  of  the  Kittoch- 
tinny  Hills,"  which  now  forms  the  western  boundary  of 
the  county  of  Franklin.  There  is  in  the  office  of  the 
Surveyor-General,  at  Harrisburg,  a  copy  of  their  minutes, 
and  a  beautiful  manuscript  colored  map  of  their  route. 
The  course  run  by  these  Commissioners  formed  the 
famous  "  temporary  line,"  so  well  kno^vn  to  the  lawyers 
and  settlers  on  the  southern  boundary  of  our  Common- 
wealth, and  in  some  measure  allayed  the  turmoil  of  the 
provinces. 

The  cause  in  Chancery,  between  the  Penns  and  Lord 
Baltimore,  was  not  decided  until  1750.  On  the  hearing;. 
Lord  Baltimore's  counsel  contended  that  it  could  not  be 
carried  into  effect,  on  account  of  its  vagueness  and  uncer- 
tainty, and  that  the  contract  had  been  abandoned  by  the 
neglect  of  the  Commissioners  of  Pennsylvania  to  meet  at 
the  time  appointed,  and  that  the  five  thousand  pounds 
penalty  was  forfeited. 

The  Lord  Chancellor,  however,  overcame  all  the  objec- 
tions urged  in  the  argument,  which  occupied  five  days, 
and  decreed  a  performance  of  the  articles  of  agreement. 


192  WILLIAM     PENN 

He  directed  that  new  ConniiiKsioners  nliould  Ije  appointed 
within  three  months  after  the  decree,  who  .should  com- 
mence (heir  operations  in  November  following  (1  Ves. 
453).  He  further  ordered  that  the  centre  of  the  semi- 
circle should  be  fixed  as  near  the  centre  of  the  town  of 
Newcastle  as  may  be ;  that  it  should  be  described  with  a 
radius  of  twelve  English  statute  miles,  "  so  that  no  part 
of  the  town  should  be  further  than  that  distance  from  the 
periphery,  and  that  Cape  Ilenlopen  should  be  taken  to  be 
situated  as  it  was  laid  down  in  the  chart  accompanying 
the  articles  of  agreement." 

The  commissioners  were  appointed  agreeably  to  the 
decree,  and  met  at  New  Castle  on  the  15th  November, 
1750.  They  fixed  upon  the  court  house  of  New  Castle 
as  the  centre  for  drawing  the  semicircle,  but  the  captious 
chicanery  of  Lord  Baltimore's  commissioners  conjured  up 
a  new  and  unexpected  difficulty  by  insisting  that  the 
radii  of  the  semicircle  should  be  measured  superficially 
without  allowing  for  the  inequalities  of  the  ground,  re- 
gardless of  the  absurd  consequences  resulting  from  such 
modes  of  measurement  in  creating  inequality  in  the  radii, 
and  the  consequent  impossibility  of  describing  anything 
deserving  the  name  of  a  semicircle.  But,  as  the  objection 
was  persisted  in,  the  Proprietaries  of  Pennsylvania  were 
again  under  the  necessity  of  a  further  application  to 
chancery,  under  the  reservations  in  the  former  decree, 
and  obtained  in  1751  a  decision  in  favor  of  horizontal 
measurement. 

The   commissioners   again    proceeding  in   their   task, 
Charles,  Lord  Baltimore  died,  but  as  the  peace  and  happi- 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  193 

ness  of  the  two  provinces  depended  on  the  settlement  of 
these  protracted  disputes,  they  did  not  on  that  account 
suspend  their  operations.  Having  run  the  semicircle 
agreeably  to  the  Lord  Chancellor's  decree  with  a  radius 
of  twelve  Enghsh  statute  miles  by  horizontal  admeasure- 
ment, and  marked  it  on  the  ground,  they  commenced  their 
ojDerations  at  Cape  Ilenlopen. 

Fixing  the  southern  boundary  of  the  three  lower  coun- 
ties (now  the  State  of  Delaware),  at  Fen  wick's  Island, 
requires  explanation,  as  the  chart  of  the  Proprietaries, 
accompanying  their  agreement  of  1732,  gives  to  the  cape 
opposite  Cape  May,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware  Bay, 
the  name  of  Cape  Cornelius,  and  the  point  at  Fenwick's 
Island,  that  of  Ilenlopen,  and  the  maps  of  the  present 
day  transpose  that  order.  The  Swedes  on  their  first 
arrival  in  1672,*  landed  at  the  interior  cape,  afterwards 
called  Inlopen,  and  named  it  Paradise  Point  from  its 
pleasant  appearance  [Bozman's  History  of  Maryland,  p. 
244]  ;  a  fatiguing  voyage  giving,  I  presume,  a  liveliness  to 
their  feelings  which  the  view  of  a  sandy  bluff,  under  ordi- 


*  This  is  a  transposition  by  the  printer  of  1612  for  162T,  the  latter 
being,  as  already  mentioned,  an  erroneous  date.  See  note  pp.  70, 
16t.  The  Swedes,  although  there  is  no  proof  of  it,  may  have  landed 
here  in  1638,  on  their  way  to  Christina.  If  they  did,  they  remained 
but  a  few  days.  That  they,  however,  designated  as  "  Paradise 
Point,"  that  which  De  Yries  had  previously  called  "  Swanendael,"  is 
shown  by  Lindstrom,  M.S.  map  of  1655,  where  it  is  named  "  Paradis 
udden  le  Cap  de  Paradis ;"  and  the  present  Lewes  Creek,  the  scene 
of  the  murder  of  De  Vries'  unfortunate  colony,  "  Mordare  Kylen,  la 
Riviere  des  Assassins."  It  is  curious  that  the  stream  which  empties 
into  the  Bay  near  Jones  Creek,  should  now  be  called  "Murder 
Creek." — Editor, 
13 


194  WILLIAM     r  E  N  N 

nary  circumstances,  would  not  have  produced.  "  This 
cape,"  says  Proud  [1  Hist.  Penn.,  Ill],  "is  frequently 
confounded  with  Cape  Ilenlopen,  the  interior  or  False 
Cape  at  Fenwick's  Island,  being  written  in  the  same 
manner  and  sometimes  Ilenlopen.  It  was  formerly  called 
Cape  Cornelius,  and  afterwards  by  William  Penn,  Cape 
James."  Bozman  [Hist.  Maryland,  244]  concludes  that 
the  confounding  of  the  appellations  arose  from  the  addition 
of  the  aspirate,  which,  in  the  Swedish  language,  when 
prefixed  to  the  word  Inlopen,  altered  the  sense  of  it  from 
the  mterior  to  the  exterior  cape.  It  is  probable  that  the 
Swedes  might  have  called  the  interior  Cape  Inlopen,  and 
the  extericrr  Henlopen,  and  that  when  the  Dutch  en- 
croached upon  their  neighbors  in  those  parts,  they  gave 
the  name  of  CorneUus  to  the  interior  cape,  leaving  the 
former  to  its  original  appellation  of  Hinlopen.  For  it 
appears  from  Hamilton  (MSS.  notes  of  the  testimony 
taken  under  the  commissions  issued  to  America  in  the 
chancery  cause  between  the  Proprietaries),  that  in  early 
times  "the  cape  on  Fenwick's  Island  was  called  Hen- 
lopen," and  that  "  South  Cape,  twenty  "miles  below  the 
mouth  of  Delaware  Bay,  was  called  Cape  Hinlopen."  One 
witness  said  that  "  False  Cape  was  formerly  called  Hin- 
lopen in  his  father's  time,  who  was  a  pilot  li^ing  fifteen 
miles  below  the  mouth  of  Delaware  Bay,"  and  another, 
that  he  "had  seen  Dutch  and  English  maps  in  which 
there  were  two  capes  laid  down  (published  in  1672)  to 
the  south  of  the  entrance  into  the  Delaware  Bay,  and 
that  the  southernmost  was  called  Cape  Hinlopen,  and  the 
most  northwardly,  lying  at  the  south  side  of  the  entrance, 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  195 

was  called  Cape  Cornelius ;"  and  Lord  Hardwick,  in  de- 
livering his  judgment  already  alluded  to,  said  (1  Ves., 
452),  "that  it  was  clear  hy  the  proof  that  the  true  situ- 
ation of  Cape  Henlopen  was  as  laid  down  in  the  place 
accompanying  the  agreement,  and  not  where  Cape  Cor- 
nelius is  {i.  e.  then),  as  the  defendant  (Lord  Baltimore) 
contended,  which  would  leave  out  a  great  part  of  what 
was  intended  to  be  included  in  the  grant,"  meaning  that 
of  the  Duke  of  York  to  Wilham  Penn. 

How  the  names  of  Henlopen  and  Cornelius  became 
transposed  as  they  are  on  the  maps  of  the  present  day, 
I  leave  to  those  who  are  better  acquainted  with  "modem 
antiquities ;"  but  that  they  have  changed  positions  since 
1732  is  not  susceptible  of  contradiction.* 

*  The  establishment  of  the  true  position  of  Cape  Henlopen  was  a 
most  important  matter  for  the  Penns,  and  they  succeeded  in  show- 
ing, contrary  to  the  allegation  of  Lord  Baltimore,  and  from  the  testi- 
mony of  the  early  maps,  that  the  present  Henlopen  was  formerly 
"  Cornelius,"  and  the  true  Henlopen,  at  the  period  of  Penn's  grant, 
was  about  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  more  southwardly.  The  earliest 
instance  of  transposition,  so  far  as  we  know,  may  be  found  in  the 
Chart  accompanying  the  "English  Pilot,"  London,  1748,  in  which 
old  Henlopen  is  not  indicated.  The  plate,  however,  bears  evidence 
of  a  date  much  earlier  than  the  letter  press.  In  Huske's  Map,  Lon- 
don, 1155,  in  the  Harvard  Library,  and  which  we  have  examined, 
the  lower  cape  is  called  "  False  Cape,"  and  the  upper  Henlopen. 
Several,  explanations  have  been  given  of  the  origin  of  the  name.  Dr. 
E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  in  his  valuable  History  of  the  New  Netherlands, 
Vol.  L,  p.  13,  is  of  the  opinion  it  was  called  Hinlopen  after  "Hindlo- 
pen,  one  of  the  towns  in  Fricsland ;"  we  do  not,  however,  find  it  so 
spelt*  in  any  of  the  numerous  maps  we  have  examined,  although  it 
is  to  be  found  in  every  variety  of  orthography. 


*  Mr.  Hazard  (Annals,  23)  spells  it  "Hindlop,"  quoting  the  Grant  to  Godyn, 
from  the  Albany  Records;  but  we  imagine  the  Breviat,  p.  3-1,  which  sets  forth 


19G  WILLIAM     PKNN 

As  tlie  Lord  Chancellor  liud  decided  that  Cape  Ileii- 
lopen  should  be  taken  to  be  where  Cape  Henlopen  had 
been  agreed  to  be  nineteen  years  before,  the  ingenuity  of 
the  commissioners  of  Maryland  could  devise  no  further 
objections  in  that  particular;  and  proceeding  to  operations 
in  conjunction  with  those  of  Pennsylvania,  they  finally 

The  first  mention  of  it,  so  far  as  we  have  seen,  is  in  the  Indian 
Grant,  made  in  1629,  to  Samuel  Godyn,  where  it  is  called  "  Hin- 
loop;^'  and  upon  the  earliest  map  where  it  occurs,  that  entitled 
"  Carta  Particolare  della  Nuoua  Belgia  h  parte  della  Nuoua  Anglia," 
and  which  Dr.  O'Callaghan  is  of  the  belief  was  engraved  in  1631, 
(Documentary  History  of  New  York,  Vol.  I.,)  it  is  named  Hinlopen. 
De  Tries,  the  celebrated  navigator,  under  date  of  1632,  calls  it  Hin- 
loopen.  (De  Vries'  Journal,  translated  by  Mr.  H.  C.  Murphy,  p.  44.) 
lie  also  fixes  its  latitude  at  38°  20,'  which  very  nearly  corresponds 
with  the  modern  reckoning,  and  does  not  with  the  present  cape, 
which,  by  the  Coast  Survey,  is  38°  55'  48." 

Another  explanation,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Hazard  (Annals  of  Penna., 
5),  is,  that  "  some  say  it  was  from  lima  Hinlop."  We  have,  how- 
ever, been  unable  to  discover  any  person  of  this  name  in  any  cotcm- 
porary  records.  A  still  further  explanation,  and  which  we  oflFer,  may 
be  from  the  fact,  that  it  was  a  local  appellation  derived  from  the 
natural  character  of  the  cape.  The  answer  of  Lord  Baltimore  (Bre- 
viat,  p.  20,  item  210)  asserts  that  it  was  from  the  Dutch  word  Hin- 
lopen, which  he  says  signifies  "going  in."  The  object  of  this 
attempt  is  obvious, — it  was  to  show  that  such  a  derivation  would 
apply  in  the  sense  of  entering  or  going  in,  to  the  upper  cape  only 
which  projects  into  the  Bay  and  whose  northern  side  affords  a 
shelter  as  the  navigator  sails  towards  Lewes,  the  first  point  on  leav- 
ing the  ocean  where  safety  can  best  be  sought  and  where  the  Break- 


the  same  grant,  is  the  more  correct.     It  is  there  spelt  "  ITinloop."     The  Exhibit 
of  the  grant  is  set  forth  in  Breviat,  in  the  following  words  : 

"An  Exemplification  or  Inspeximus,  under  His  Majesty's  Great  Seal  of  the 
Province  of  New  York,  of  the  following  Record,  remaining  in  the  Secretary's 
Office  of  that  Province  (being  proved,  addition^illy,  by  two  witnesses  in  the 
cause,  viz.,  Thomas  Nixon  and  William  Yandespiegel,  to  contain  a  true  copy  and 
also  a,  true  translation  of  a  Book  of  Dutch  Patents,  in  the  following  words.") 
[Here  follows  the  confirmation  of  Godyn's  Grant.] 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  197 

fixed  a  stone  at  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  perches  from 
the  cape  at  Fenwick's  Island,  "  near  four  mulberry  trees," 
sculptured  with  the  arms  of  Baltimore  on  the  south,  and 
those  of  Penn  on  the  north,  and  proceeded  to  run  the 
line  across  the  peninsula,  "and  ascertain  the  exact 
middle"  as  a  point  from  whence  to  run  the  northwardly 
line  to  form  a  tangent  with  the  semicircle  at  New  Castle. 
They  then  run  the  line  between  the  two  bays  in  the  lati- 
tude of  Cape  Henlopen  (as  agreed  upon),  until  they 
reached  the  waters  of  Slaughter's  Creek  (not  now  laid 
down  in  the  maps),  a  distance  of  sixty  miles  and  two 

water  is  now  built,  while  the  construction  put  upon  the  word  as  so 
translated  would  not  apply  to  the  lower  or  true  Henlopen.  Unfortu- 
nately, however,  for  Lord  Baltimore's  claim,  the  word  in  the  Dutch 
appropriate  to  express  to  go,  is  "gaen,^^  or  going — "gaende,"  while  the 
word  "loopen"  signifies  to  run,  and  "een  loopinge^'  "a  running  or  a 
coursing"  cape  or  shore,  which  very  naturally  may  have  been 
changed  to  Enlopen  or  Henlopen.  (Hexham's  "  English  and 
Nether.  Dutch  Dictionarie,"  Amsterdam,  1647.)  This  explanation 
precisely  describes  the  character  of  the  ancient  Henlopen  or  False 
Cape,  presenting,  on  approach,  a  running,  vanishing,  or  receding 
point,  similar  to  that  which  "  Point  No  Point"  exhibits  on  the  Dela- 
ware, upon  nearing  Bridesburg. — Editor. 

Since  the  above  was  written,  the  testimony  of  James  Logan,  to  be 
found  in  the  "  Breviat,"  Penn  versus  Baltimore,  p.  91,  has,  for  the  first 
time,  met  our  eye,  and  which  confirms  the  correctness  of  the  origin 
of  the  name  as  we  have  endeavored  to  prove  it.  Logan  cites  Wm. 
Sewall's  Dutch  and  English  Dictionary,  Amsterdam,  1708,  to  show 
that  the  word  "  Loopen^^  means  "to  run  away,"  while  "  Inlooj^ten" 
means  "to  run  in,  to  flow,  or  stream  into," — and  he  thinks  the  latter 
title  was,  "  in  process  of  time,  transferred  to  the  more  northerly  and 
real  cape  and  entrance  in  the  Bay  of  Delaware,  as  more  properly 
suiting  the  same."  This  conjecture,  it  appears  to  us,  reconciles  every 
difficulty,  and  shows  how  the  transposition  naturally  occurred. — - 
Editor. 


198  WILLIAM     I'ENN 

liuiidrcd  and  forty-c'i^lit  mid  a  half  perches,  when  the 
fruitful  inventions  of  the  Maryland  commissioners,  alleging 
that,  as  they  had  reached  the  waters  running  into  the 
Chesapeake  Bay,  they  had  run  across  the  peninsula,  agree- 
ably to  the  spirit  of  the  articles  of  agreement,  and  in- 
sisted upon  stopping.  The  line,  however,  was  continued 
till  they  passed  through  Taylor's  and  part  of  James's 
Islands,  a  distance  of  sixty-nine  miles  and  two  hundred 
and  ninety-eight  and  a  half  perches,  from  bay  to  bay. 
But  as  the  commissioners  of  Lord  Baltimore  refused  to 
proceed  to  ascertain  the  middle  of  the  peninsula,  unless 
their  computation  was  adopted,  it  became  necessary  for 
the  Penns  to  file  a  supplemental  bill  in  chancery  against 
Frederick,  Lord  Baltimore,  to  force  him  to  adopt  the  line 
of  sixty-nine  miles  and  two  hundred  and  ninety-eight  and 
a  half  perches  as  the  distance  across  the  peninsula,  from 
bay  to  bay,  and  ascertain  its  exact  middle,  from  whence 
the  northwardly  line  should  be  run  so  as  to  form  a  tangent 
with  the  New  Castle  semicircle,  and  past  it  to  the  latitude 
of  fifteen  Fnglish  statute  miles  south  of  the  most  southern 
part  of  Philadelphia. 

Whilst  this  bill  was  pending,  Frederick,  Lord  Balti- 
more, tired  of  the  litigation  and  expense  of  the  disputes, 
which  he  did  not  probably  understand,  as  he  was  then 
young,  and  perhaps  finding  himself  driven  from  every 
possible  chance  of  further  cavil,  finally  entered  into 
articles  of  agreement  with  Thomas  Penn  and  Richard 
Penn  in  1760,  which  at  length  efiectually  closed  their 
protracted  and  vexatious  altercations. 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  199 

By  this  agreement  it  was  covenanted,  that  the  semi- 
circle as  ah-eady  run  should  he  adopted ;  that  the  distance 
across  the  peninsula,  in  the  latitude  of  Cape  Henlopen, 
should  be  taken  to  have  been  rightfully  run  at  sixty-nine 
miles  and  two  hundred  and  ninety-eight  and  a  half 
perches  from  the  stone  pillar  east  of  "  the  mulberry  tree, 
at  Fenwick's  Island,"  and  marked  with  the  arms  of  the 
contracting  parties ;  that  the  middle  of  such  line  should 
be  ascertained,  and  a  stone  pillar  should  be  fixed  at  that 
point ;  that  from  such  point  a  northwardly  line  should  be 
run,  whether  the  same  should  be  due  north  or  not,  so  as 
to  form  a  tangent  with  the  semicircle  at  New  Castle, 
drawn  with  a  radius  of  twelve  Enghsh  statute  horizontal 
miles,  from  the  court  house  in  that  place,  and  past  the 
said  point  of  contact  further  north  till  it  reached  the 
latitude  of  fifteen  miles  south  of  the  most  southern  part 
of  Philadelphia;  that  the  supplemental  bill  filed  should 
be  confessed;  that  all  claim  should  be  released  to  the 
territory  within  those  limits  then  to  be  ascertained ;  and 
that  the  Penns  should  appoint  commissioners  to  run  the 
lines  as  yet  unfinished. 

These  articles  of  agreement  of  1760,  between  Thomas 
Penn,  Eichard  Penn,  and  Frederick,  Lord  Baltimore,  are 
well  known  to  our  courts  of  justice,  and  have  been 
admitted  in  evidence  without  proof,  as  a  state  paper,  with 
which  they  are  presumed  to  be  conversant.  They  were 
enrolled  in  chancery  in  England,  in  pursuance  of  a  decree 
of  that  court,  found  amongst  the  papers  some  years  ago 
of  Dr.  Ross,  (1  Binn.,  399,)  who  had  some  connexions 
with  the  Penns  as  their  agent.    They  are  not  to  be  found 


200  WILLIAM     PENN 

amongst  ilic  public  documents  ol'  the  commonwealth,  but 
there  was  a  co])y  of  them  taken  by  the  secretary  of  that 
office,  from  the  original,  brought  there  by  Samuel  Riddle, 
Esq.,  who  was  a  connexion  of  Dr.  Ross's  family,  under^an 
express  written  stipulation,  that  they  should  be  redelivered 
to  him  after  they  were  copied,  as  private  property.  It  is 
to  be  lamented  that  the  original  was  not  filed,  for  though 
it  has  been  admitted  in  our  courts  as  evidence  in  cases  of 
disjDutcs,  under  conflicting  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania 
land  titles,  yet  if  they  should  unfortunately  be  lost,  the 
courts,  I  presume,  would  not  admit  the  copy  which  was 
taken  in  a  large  unwieldy  book,  and  much  less  the  copy 
of  a  copy,  unless  an  act  of  Assembly  should  be  passed 
giving  such  copy,  or  copy  of  the  copy,  the  character  of 
legal  evidence. 

Jeremiah  Dixon  and  Charles  Mason  were  ajDpointed  to 
run  the  unfinished  lines  in  1761,  and  extended  the  western 
line  between  the  two  provinces  to  the  distance  of  two 
hundred  and  thirty  miles,  and  marked  for  one  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  by  stone  pillars,  thus  putting  a  final 
termination  to  disputed  territory  between  Marj-land  and 
Pennsylvania.  This  line  was  afterwards  designated 
"  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,"  to  distinguish  it  from  "  the 
temporary  line,"  run  in  1739,  as  already  related.  I  have 
never  been  able  to  see  the  chart  or  minutes  of  these  latter 
surveys,  as  they  are  not  amongst  the  public  records  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania.* 

*  One  of  the  original  books  of  the  field-notes  of  ^[ason  and  Dixon 
is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Ferdinand  J.  Dreer,  of  this  city,  which 
he  has  kindly  permitted  us  to  inspect.     It  is  a  manuscript  folio  of 


AXD     LORD     BALTIMORE.  201 

These  disputes  and  negotiations  of  the  Proprietaries  of 
Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  are  curious  and  interesting, 
as  a  portion  of  the  early  history  of  the  State,  and  neces- 


two  hundred  and  twenty-six  pages,  and  the  first  entry  is  under 
date — "1*763,  Xovember  15.  Arrived  in  Philadelphia."  The  last 
is — "  1768.  Delivered  to  the  Eev.  Richard  Peters,  Plans  of  the 
above  mentioned  Lines." 

The  entry  of  each  day,  with  some  exceptions,  is  signed: 

"  Chas.  Mason," 
"Jere.  Dixon." 

On  August  21, 1764,  they  speak  of  the  manner  in  which  they  made 
their  observations : 

"  The  foregoing  observations  were  made  with  the  Transit  Instru- 
ment, in  the  following  manner :  Before  we  left  off  in  the  evening  a 
mark  was  placed  at  the  distance  of  one-half  or  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  in  the  line,  northward.  Then,  after  the  equal  altitudes  were 
observed,  the  instrument  was  adjusted  as  when  we  gave  off.  A 
candle  being  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  mark,  the  middle  wire  in  the 
telescope  was  brought  to  bisect  the  light  of  the  candle  (the  line  of 
collomation  being  just,  and  the  Level  proving  the  horizontal  position 
of  the  axis).  Then,  the  telescope  being  elevated  to  the  star,  the 
time  (per  watch)  of  the  star's  passing  the  middle  (with  which  the 
line  was  run)  wire  was  taken.  The  watch  with  which  these  obser- 
vations were  made,  had  only  a  minute  hand,  therefore  the  seconds 
must  not  be  expected  as  from  a  good  time-piece,  nor  does  the  nature 
of  the  problem  require  it,  as  the  star  made  use  of  (in  the  tail  of  Urs. 
Minor)  was,  at  the  time  of  observation,  nearly  passing  the  tangent 
of  its  circle  round  the  Pole,  consequently  its  apparent  motion  very 
slow." 

Dixon  died  in  England,  in  1777 ;  and  Mason  in  Philadelphia,  Oct. 
25,  1786.  The  following  account  of  Mason  was  published  November 
11,  1786,  in  the  Philadelphia  Indejjendei^t  Gazeteer: 

"  On  Wednesday,  the  25th  of  October,  died  in  this  city,  Mr. 
Charles  Mason,  lately  from  England,  and  author  of  the  most  accurate 
set  of  Lunar  and  Solar  Tables  that  has  ever  been  exhibited  to  the 
public.     He  was  formerly  employed,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Jero- 


202  WILLIAM     r  E  N  N 

sary  and  important  to  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  land 
titles  within  the  disputed  territory,  the  covenants  respect- 
ing which,  in  the  famous  agreements  of  1732  and  1700, 
it  is  foreign  to  this  sketch  to  exhibit  or  explain.  The 
whole  history  of  these  transactions  shows  conclusively  the 
fairness  and  candor,  the  moderation  and  firmness  of  Wil- 


miah  Dixon,  to  run  the  boundary  line  between  Pennsylvania  and 
Maryland,  -which  they  executed  with  great  skill  and  accuracy.  Since 
his  return  to  England,  he  has  been  principally  employed  in  correcting 
and  improving  the  Lunar  Tables  of  the  celebrated  Professor  Mayer, 
and  has  succeeded  so  far  as  to  present  to  the  Board  of  Longitude,  in 
London,  the  best  and  most  exact  set  of  Lunar  Tables  that  were  ever 
constructed,  for  which  they  gave  him,  in  the  year  1780,  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  sterling.  But,  as  he  had  spent  the  most  of  his 
time  since  he  left  Philadelphia  in  this  laborious  work  and  had  a 
numerous  family  to  maintain,  most  of  the  money  was  anticipated 
before  he  received  it,  and  he  has  now  left  in  this  city  a  widow  with 
eight  small  children,  without  anything  to  support  them  but  the 
charity  of  well-disposed  persons  and  the  notice  of  that  State  to 
which  his  former  labors  were  so  beneficial.  His  success  in  his  former 
improvement  of  the  Lunar  Tables,  and  his  perfect  acquaintance  with 
that  abstruse  and  laborious  business,  had  engaged  him  to  begin 
another  and  still  more  accurate  correction  of  them,  but  dying  before 
he  could  finish  the  same,  he  left  his  manuscripts  and  papers  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Ewing,  Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  request- 
ing him,  with  the  earnestness  and  zeal  of  an  astronomer,  to  under- 
take the  laborious  task,  and  exhibit  to  the  w^orld  an  American  set  of 
Lunar  and  Solar  Tables,  which  would  be  still  more  accurate  than 
anything  yet  published  in  Europe.  His  former  acquaintance  with 
the  Provost,  as  an  astronomer  and  mathematician,  induced  him  to 
leave  his  valuable  manuscripts  to  him,  in  hopes  that  some  way  may 
be  devised  of  making  them  useful  to  the  world." 

Mr.  Latrobe,  in  his  Address  before  our  Historical  Society,  already 
mentioned  at  page  106,  speaks  very  fully  of  Mason  and  Dixon.  His 
Paper  forms  a  very  valuable  addition  to  our  knowledge  on  the  subject 
of  this  celebrated  survey. — Editor. 


AND     LORD     BALTIMORE.  203 

liam  Penii,  the  illustrious  and  irreproachable  founder  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  justice  of  the  claims  of  his  posterity, 
and  rescues  his  name  from  the  imputation  of  injustice.* 

*  The  failure  of  Lord  Baltimore  to  establish  his  claim  was, 
perhaps,  in  no  small  measure  owing  to  the  manner  in  which  he 
attempted  to  meet  the  difficulties  of  his  position.  He  certainly  had 
bad  advisers.  His  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  country  upon  the 
Delaware  never  justified  declarations  to  the  effect — "that  the  Swedes 
and  Dutch  did  not  successively  possess  and  enjoy,  for  many  years 
after  the  date  of  the  grant  to  Lord  Baltimore,  their  ancient  settle- 
ment on  the  Delaware ;  that  they  had  no  such  settlement  there, 
being  but  a  few  of  them  there,  and  those  but  itinerant  traders,  and 
if  settled  and  inhabited,  the  parts  so  settled  and  inhabited  were 
very  small.  *  *  *  *  That  the  three  lower  counties  (now  the 
State  of  Delaware)  were  never  held  by  the  Dutch,  as  belonging  to 
New  Amsterdam,  nor  were  they  since  1663  in  the  quiet  possession 
of  the  Duke  of  York,  nor  a  dependency  of  the  province  of  New  York. 
And  further  that  Governor  Andross  never  received  possession  of  the 
lower  counties  from  the  Dutch,  nor  exercised  any  act  of  government 
or  ownership  within  said  territory  or  any  part  thereof." 

All  of  these  statements  are  positively  opposed  to  history,  and  the 
Penns  skilfully  availed  themselves  of  their  advantage.  The  Swedes 
were  in  possession  of  the  river  when  Stuyvesant,  the  Dutch  Gov- 
ernor at  New  Amsterdam,  proceeded  to  the  Delaware,  conquered 
the  territory  from  them,  and  appointed  a  Yice-Director  or  Governor 
under  him.  The  whole  territory  then  became  a  dependency  of  New 
Amsterdam. 

In  1664,  Charles  II.  granted  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  a 
very  considerable  region  in  America,  and  which  included  that 
claimed  by  the  Dutch.  This  was  followed,  in  the  same  year,  by  an 
expedition  under  Colonel  Nicholls,  who  seized  all  the  Dutch  posses- 
sions, and  New  Amsterdam  became  New  York.  The  Delaware  was 
in  due  course  reduced  by  the  English,  and  governed  under  the 
Duke's  Laws,  as  they  were  called,  and  by  magistrates  appointed  by 
the  successive  Governors  who  were  commissioned  by  the  Duke. 
In  1681,  a  letter  was  addressed  to  the  magistrates  upon  the  Dela- 
ware, by  Anthony  Brockholtz,  Commander  at  New  York,  which, 
after  reciting  the  grant  to  Penn,  and  thanking  them  for  "their 
good  services,  &c.,  done  during  ye  time  they  remained  under  bis 


204  WILLIAM     r  E  N  N,     ETC. 

Roynl  ITighncss'  Government,"  <fec.,  directed  thorn   to  "yield  due 
obedience  to  ye  s*  Letters  Patent." 

Witli  respect  to  the  question  of  territorial  occupation  and  settle- 
ment, many  grants  were  made  by  the  Dutch  Governors,  and  those 
of  the  Duke  of  York,  particularly  by  Andross :  for,  from  the  Breviat, 
we  find  that,  between  the  years  1674  and  167G,  one  hundred  and 
eight  grants,  comprising  at  least  forty-four  thousand  acres,  were 
made  by  him  in  the  name  of  the  Duke,  and  principally  within  the 
three  lower  counties ;  but,  in  view  of  Lord  Baltimore's  statement, 
the  facts  are  still  more  remarkable,  that  even  before  Penn  was  born  a 
church  was  here  established,  forts  built,  justice  administered,  trade 
maintained,  and  the  soil  to  some  extent  under  successful  cultivation. 
— Editor. 


ORIGINAL  LETTERS 


DOCUMENTS 


RELATING  TO  THE 


HISTORY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA, 


HITHERTO  UNPUBLISHED. 


(205) 


I.   OEIGINAL  LETTERS,  ETC. 


[The  following  letters  are  now  first  published  from  the 
originals,  in  the  handwriting  of  the  illustrious  Founder. 
The  first  three  were  addressed  by  him  to  an  ancestor  of 
the  President  of  this  Society,  and  were  found  among  the 
papers  of  that  ancestor.  The  earliest  in  date  is  interest- 
ing, as  it  exhibits  the  modesty  of  Wilham  Penn  in  his 
opposition  to  the  name  proposed  to  be  bestowed  on  the 
province,  and  in  his  ascribing  the  appellation  entirely  to 
the  merits  of  his  father,  without  arrogating  anything  to 
himself.  The  second  is  no  less  creditable  to  the  writer, 
since  it  shows  the  liberal  principles  of  government  which 
he  entertained  from  the  outset,  but  which,  on  account  of 
the  well-known  sentiments  of  Charles  II.  and  the  Duke 
of  York,  he  deemed  unfit  for  the  atmosphere  of  a  despotic 
and  profligate  court.  "For  the  matters  of  liberty  and 
privilege,"  says  this  upright  lawgiver,  "I  purpose  that 
which  is  extraordinary,  and  to  leave  myself  and  succes- 
sors no  power  of  doing  mischief;  that  tlie  will  of  one  man 
may  not  hinder  the  good  of  an  icliole  country :  but  to  pub- 
lish those  things  now  and  here,  as  matters  stand,  would 

(207) 


208  ORIGINAL     L  i:  T  T  E  II  S 

not  be  AVISO,"  &c.  In  the  third  letter  an  important  and 
hitherto  unnoticed  fact  is  mentioned,  viz.,  his  refusal  of  a 
suin^ — considerable  at  that  time,  and  which  to  most  per- 
sons would  have  appeared  of  sufficient  amount, — for  a 
certain  number  of  shares  in  the  province,  with  the  exclu- 
sive privilege  to  the  company  of  the  Indian  trade ;  and 
if  we  are  to  understand  by  his  expessions  in  the  latter 
part  of  his  letter,  that  his  refusal  of  the  offer  was  dictated 
by  a  desire  to  establish  in  Pennsylvania  a  model  of  free 
government,  and  honorable  dealing  with  the  Indians, 
"that  an  example  and  standard  may  be  set  up  to  the 
nations,"  we  may  see  in  it  new  evidence  of  his  claims  to 
the  most  profound  gratitude  and  respect. 

The  remaining  letters  are  of  much  later  date,  and  shed 
light  upon  an  obscure  part  of  his  history.  The  latest  in 
the  series  is  valuable  from  the  circumstances  of  its  ha^-ing 
been,  probably,  the  last  letter  written  by  him  to  America, 
since  it  appears,  from  his  memoirs,  that  in  the  month  of 
May,  1712,  he  was  attacked  by  an  apoplectic  fit,  and 
shortly  afterwards  by  a  second,  which  disabled  him  from 
correspondence.] 


1.  To  Robert  Turner. 

^ih  of  1st  mo.,  1681. 
Dear  Friend: 

My  true  love  in  the  Lord  salutes  thee,  and  dear  friends 
that  love  the  Lord's  precious  truth  in  those  parts.  Thine 
I  have,  and  for  my  business  here,  know  that  after  many 


AND     DOCUMENTS.  209 

waitings,  watchings,  solicitings,  and  disputes  in  Council, 
this  day  my  country  was  confirmed  to  me  under  the  Great 
Seal  of  England,  with  large  powers  and  privileges,  by  the 
name  of  Pennsilvania,  a  name  the  king  would  have  given 
it  in  honor  of  my  father.  I  chose  New  Wales,  being  as 
this,  a  pretty  hilly  country,  but  Penn  being  Welsh  for  a 
head,  as  Penmanmoire  in  Wales,  and  Penrith  in  Cumber- 
land, and  Penn  in  Buckinghamshire,  the  highest  land  in 
England,  called  this  Pen7isihama,  which  is  the  high  or 
head  woodlands ;  for  I  proposed,  when  the  Secretary, — a 
Welshman, — refused  to  have  it  called  New  Wales,  /St/I- 
vania,  and  they  added  Penn  to  it;  and  though  I  much 
opposed  it,  and  went  to  the  king  to  have  it  struck  out  and 
altered,  he  said  'twas  past,  and  would  take  it  upon  him ; 
nor  could  twenty  guineas  move  the  under-secretarys  to 
vary  the  name,  for  I  feared  least  it  should  be  lookt  on  as 
a  vanity  in  me,  and  not  as  a  respect  in  the  king,  as  it 
truly  was,  to  my  father,  whom  he  often  mentions  with 
praise.  Thou  mayst  communicate  my  graunt  to  friends, 
and  expect  shortly  my  proposals :  'tis  a  clear  and  just 
thing,  and  my  God,  that  has  given  it  me  through  many 
difficultys,  will,  I  beheve,  bless  and  make  it  the  seed  of  a 
nation.  I  shall  have  a  tender  care  to  the  government, 
that  it  will  be  well  laid  at  first :  no  more  now,  but  dear 
love  in  the  truth. 

Thy  true  friend, 

W.  PENN. 

14 


210  ORIGINAL     LETTERS 


2.    To   THE    SAME   AND   OTHERS. 

Westmhister,  12th  of  2cl  mo.,  1G81. 

Dear  R.  Turner,  Ant.  Sharp,  and  R.  Roberts  : 

My  love  salutes  you  in  the  abiding  truth  of  our  God, 
that  is  precious  in  all  lands ;  the  Lord  God  of  righteous- 
ness keep  us  in  it,  and  then  shall  we  be  the  dayly  wittnesses 
of  the  comforts  and  refreshments  that  come  from  it,  to  his 
praise,  that  is  the  fountain  of  all  good.  Having  published 
a  paper  with  relation  to  my  province  in  America  (at  least 
what  I  thought  it  adviseable  to  publish),  I  here  inclose 
one,  that  you  may  know  and  inform  others  of  it.  I  have 
been  these  thirteen  years  the  servant  of  truth  and 
Friends ;  and  for  my  testimony  sake  lost  much,  not  only 
the  greatness  and  preferments  of  this  world,  but  £16,000 
of  my  estate,  that  had  I  not  been  what  I  am  I  had  long 
agoe  obtained ;  but  I  murmur  not ;  the  Lord  is  good  to 
me,  and  the  interest  his  truth  has  given  me  with  his 
people  may  more  than  repaire  it :  For  many  are  drawn 
forth  to  be  concerned  with  me,  and  perhaps  this  way  of 
satisfaction  has  more  of  the  hand  of  God  in  it  than  a 
downright  payment :  this  I  can  say,  that  I  had  an  open- 
ing of  joy,  as  to  these  parts,  in  the  year  1661,  at  Oxford, 
twenty  years  since ;  and  as  my  understanding  and  inclin- 
ations have  been  much  directed  to  observe  and  reprove 
mischiefs  in  governments,  so  it  is  now  put  in  my  power 
to  settle  one.  For  the  matters  of  Uberty  and  privilege,  I 
purpose  that  which  is  extraordinary,  and  to  leave  myself 


AND     DOCUMENTS.  211 

and  successors  no  power  of  doeing  mischief;  that  the  will 
of  one  man  may  not  hinder  the  good  of  an  whole  country; 
but  to  publish  those  things  now  and  here,  as  matters 
stand,  would  not  be  wise,  and  I  was  advised  to  reserve 
that  till  I  came  there.  Your  ancient  love  to  me,  makes 
me  believe  you  will  have  a  brotherly  eye  to  my  honest 
concern ;  and  what  truth  makes  you  free  to  do  3'ou  will, 
and  more  I  expect  not :  'tis  a  clear,  unintangled,  and,  I 
may  say,  honourable  bottom,  no  more ;  but  let  Friends 
know  it,  as  you  are  free.  With  my  dear  love  in  that 
which  no  waters  can  quench,  nor  time  make  wax  old,  nor 
distance  wear  out. 

Your  friend  brother, 

WM.  PENN. 

The  inclosed  was  first  read  to  Traders,  Planters,  and 
Shipmasters,  that  know  those  parts,  and  finally  to  the 
most  eminent  of  Friends  hereaway,  and  so  comes  forth. 
I  have  foreborne  paint  and  allurement,  and  writt  truth. 

W.  P. 

There  are  several  inhabitants  on  the  place  already  able 
to  yield  accommodation  to  such  as  at  first  go ;  and  care  is 
taken  already  for  to  look  out  a  convenient  tract  of  land 
for  a  first  settlement. 

Directed — "  For  Robert  Turner, 
/  At  his  house  in  Dublin." 

Endorsed  — "  William  Penn,  his  advise  about  his  coun- 
try Pennsylvania  —  came  with  the  printed  Booke  — 

"  And  how  he  is  persuaded  of  it — and  his  inchnatiou 
thereto  longe  past." 


212  ORIGINAL    LETTERS. 


3.  To  Robert  Turner. 

25^A  UTi  mo.,  1681. 
Dear  Friend, 

My  endeared  love  in  the  truth  of  God,  that  is  sweet 
and  patient,  long  suffering,  and  believes  and  hopes  to  the 
end,  salutes  thee  and  thy  family,  with  faithful  friends  in 
those  parts.  Thy  remembrance  by  severall  notes,  through 
the  hands  of  J.  Hall,  I  tenderly  received ;  and  though  I 
ordered  P.  Ford  to  answear  thy  said  letters,  and  send  the 
things  by  thee  desired,  and  writt  and  sent  maps  and 
accounts  too,  by  Friend  Thomas  Lurting,  I  thought  good 
to  send  thee  a  few  lines.  I  have  lately  been  in  the  west 
of  England,  and  had  a  prosperous  journey  in  the  Lord's 
service.  At  my  returne  found  thyne  to  me.  The  most 
materiall  is  about  the  quit-rent,  &c. :  Philip  will  be  large 
to  thee  upon  it.  I  am  contented  to  sell  it  to  a  Beaver 
Skin,  which  is  about  a  crown  value,  at  ten  years  purchase. 
I  did  refuse  a  great  temptation  last  second  day,  which  was 
six  thousand  pounds,  and  pay  the  Indians  for  six  shares, 
and  make  the  purchasers  a  company,  to  have  wholly  to 
itself  the  Indian  trade  from  south  to  north,  between  the 
Smquahanagh  and  Delaware  rivers,  paying  me  two  and  a 
half  per  cent,  acknowledgment  or  rent :  but  as  the  Lord 
gave  it  me  over  all  and  great  opposition,  and  that  I  never 
had  my  mind  so  exercised  to  the  Lord  about  my  outward 
substance,  I  would  not  abuse  his  love,  nor  act  unworthy 
of  his  providence,  and  so  defile  what  came  to  me  clean. 
No,  lett  the  Lord  guide  me  by  his  wisdom,  and  preserve 


AND     DOCUMENTS.  213 

me  to  honor  his  name,  and  serve  his  truth  and  people, 
that  an  example  and  standard  may  be  set  up  to  the 
nations  :  there  may  be  room  there  though  none  here.  So 
dr.  Robert  take  no  notice  of  this.  Thomas  Lurting  may 
guess  the  man :  he  knows  him  and  spoke  of  him  to  me 
the  last  man  upon  the  staires-head  when  he  left  me.  No 
more  at  present,  but  that  I  am  in  the  love  of  the  Lord, 
Thy  true  friend, 

WM.  PENN. 

Directed  — "  For  Robert  Turner, 

Merchant  in  Dublin  in  Ireland." 

Endorsed  — "  Wm.  Penn  adviseth  that  books  or  printed 
proposals,  with  maps,  is  sent  by  Thomas  Lurttin ;  about 
Pensilvania ;  and  that  the  qui1>rent  may  be  taken  off  at 
ten  years  purchase,  paying  yearly  in  a  beaver  skin,  &c., 
also  that  he  was  offered  six  thousand  pounds  for  six 
shares." 

"  Thomas  Lurtin  says  Samuel  Groom  spoke  to  Wm. 
Penn  for  the  land,  at  the  request  of  Thurston  in  Mary- 
land." 


4.  To  James  Logan. 

Landwi,  21th  M  mo.,  1708. 
Loving  Friend, 

I  shall  have  two  opertunitys  more,  so  only  tell  thee 

that  Isaac  Norris  has  two  letters  for  thee.     This  is  to 

cover  some  papers  to  thee  to  be  used  as  occasion  requires ; 

two  of  them,  being  two  wg^ys  of  stating  my  case  against 


214  ORIGINAL     LETTERS 

the  Fords ;  one  an  order  of  Council,  though  the  originall 
must  be  there,  directing  the  way  of  divideing  the  two 
provinces  in  King  James's  time,  he  striveing,  I  hope  in 
vaine,  to  alter  it.  The  last  my  case  (or  the  Duke's  rather) 
against  Lord  Baltimore,  that  will  direct  plainly  how  to 
understand  my  case  and  title.  I  had  a  letter  from  the 
Governor,  the  first  in  about  a  yeare ;  one  from  G.  Owen, 
and  one  from  T.  Fairman,  with  one  to  P.  Ford,  open  in 
mine.  So  far  not  amiss.  But  not  one  yet  from  thee.  T. 
Gray  inclosed  them  from  Sheels  by  New  Castle  (where 
he  lyes  sick)  to  his  uncle,  Charles  Wright,  my  old  ac- 
quaintance; perhaps  he  keeps  thy  packet  for  my  o^\ti 
hand  from  his.  Remember  the  mines  which  the  governor 
makes  yet  a  secret,  even  to  thee  and  all  the  world,  but 
himself  and  Michell:  pray  penetrate  that  matter,  and 
lett  us  see  the  oare  in  as  large  a  quantity  as  thou  canst. 
This  comes  to  thee  by  E.  Jackson,  and  I  hope  an  honest 
man,  that  may  tell  thee  more.  The  Fords*  insist  upon 
eight,  now  friends  are  come  up  to  seven  thousand  pounds ; 
'tis  like  to  be,  I  hope,  compromised.  We  are  all  well 
through  the  Lord's  mercy,  and  salute  thee ;  friends  here 
to-night  from  Bristol,  P.  Moore,  &c.  Be  penetrating  and 
brisk,  and  tell  friends  of  Jersey,  that  the  Lords  Commis- 

*  These  were  the  executors  of  one  Ford,  his  steward,  who  by  acts 
of  "fraud  and  treachery,"  (to  use  the  words  of  James  Logan)  in- 
volved him  in  great  pecuniary  troubles,  which  clouded  the  latter 
years  of  his  life.  "  He  trusted  (says  Oldmixon,  in  his  account  of  the 
British  Empire)  an  ungrateful  agent  too  much  with  the  management 
of  the  Province ;  and  when  he  expected  to  have  been  thousands  of 
pounds  the  better  for  it,  found  himself  thousands  of  pounds  in 
debt,"  &c. 


AND    DOCUMENTS.  215 

sioners  for  trade,  &c.,  sent  me  a  letter  about  Rivell,  Leeds, 
&c.,  if  fit  for  their  Council,  and  at  New  York,  which  I 
have  answered  to-day,  I  hope,  to  their  content.  'Tis  late, 
so  I  shall  close,  with  dr.  love  to  S.  Carpenter,  C.  Pewsej, 
Gr.  Owen,  Ed.  Hill,  T.  Story,  R.  ElHs,  &c.,  who  am 

Thy  real  ffrd, 

WM.  PENN. 

Col.  Rooth  since  my  last  has  paid  me  twenty  pounds. 


5.   To  THE  Same. 

Reding,  21th  12th  mo.,  1708-9. 
Loving  Friend: 

Though  I  have  writt  many  ways,  and  I  think  most 

amply,  and  especially  by  Col.  Gookin  and  Thomas  Potts, 

yet  haveing  received  thine  of  7ber  last,  which  is  the  last, 

I  thought  fit  to  let  thee  know  that  Michel  has  been  with 

me,  is  a  little  clowdy,  and  would  tell  me  what  is  good  out 

of  our  province,  and  dubious  of  the  valine  of  what  is 

within  it,  as  yet;   but  promises  faire.     T.  Grey  as  yet 

cannot  make  himself  master  of  the  papers   thou   hast 

twice  writt  about,  comeing  by  N.  Castle-upon-Tj^ne,  sick, 

his  chest  in  disorder  still,  but  is  positive  that  one  sort  of 

the  papers  thou  hast  every  individual  of  them.     I'll  mind 

him  of  it  again.     But  Col.  Evans  and  his  company  of 

Indians,  both  T.  G.  and  Michell  declare  can  make  100 

pounds,  if  not  2  or  3  pr.  diem  neat.     Unhapj^y  for  me 

has  that  falHng  out  been  between  you.     But  end  it  the 


216  ORIGINAL     LETTERS 

best  it  may  be.  lie  writes  of  eoining  over,  but  let  him 
be  honourable  there,  or  he  may  repent  it  here.  He  is  a 
Silliton  ir  he  stir  and  does  not  pursue  may  last  offer  and 
advice  by  Col.  Gookin.  I  heare  Ld.  Lovelace  is  well 
arrived,  1  hope  so  is  your  Governor*  too :  make  the  most 
of  him  to  friends  and  service.  He  had  hints  enough  to 
follow  theirs  and  thine,  and  was  let  into  every  secret  of 
your  affairs  that  occurred  to  me  at  his  going.  Give  him 
measures  of  persons  and  things.  He  writes  w^ell,  is  a  good 
mathematician,  and  I  have  desired  him  to  keep  a  diary 
for  his  security,  or  at  least  prudent  discharge. 

Now  these  five  things  thou  hast  to  balance  against  the 
turbulent  and  ungrateful : 

1.  That  I  keep  my  government. 

2.  I  have  sent  a  new  lieutenant  or  deputy. 

•3.  That  1  have  recovered  the  province  from  the  vilest 
of  the  earth,f  and  that  danger  over. 

4.  That  1  have  sent  the  school  charter. 

5.  That  Ld.  Baltimore  laying  hold  of  his  province's 
address  for  settling  our  boundaries,  petitioned  the  Queen, 
in  order  to  it,  to  dismiss  or  repeale  the  order  of  Council 
in  her  father's  time,  and  only  run  the  line  and  leave  the 
Lower  Countys  to  him  as  his  by  his  grant,  which  he  got 
referred  to  the  Lords  for  trade,  &c.  I  appeared  to  them, 
told  them  they  could  not  be  proper  judges,  or  shake  a 
definitive  order  or  sentence  of  King  and  Council,  com- 


*  Charles  Gookin,  Esq.,  appointed  Governor  by  William  Penn,  a 
few  months  previously, 
f  Probably  the  Fords. 


AND     DOCUMENTS.  217 

plained  to  Ld.  President  Sominers  and  Ld.  Sunderland, 
Secretary  of  State :  They  agreed  with  me,  excused  the 
inadvertency  of  the  reference  and  concurred  with  me  to 
petition  the  Queen,  which  I  have  done,  setting  forth  the 
case,  and  the  long  quiet  possession  upon  that  determina- 
tion, and  praying  to  have  so  ill  a  precedent  to  American 
settlements  prevented,  and  his  petition  dismissed ;  and  so 
it  was  in  high  comicil.         *         *         *         *  *         * 

*********** 

[The  rest  of  this  letter  is  unfortunately  missing.] 


6.  To  Samuel  Carpenter  and  others. 

Ruscomb  Berks,  24  5^A  mo.,  1712. 

Deare  and  worthy  friends  : 

Haveing  so  faire  an  opertunity,  and  having  heard  from 
you  by  the  Bearer,  John  French,  I  chuse,  by  him,  to  salute 
you  and  yours,  and  all  unnamed  friends  that  you  think 
worthy:  for  my  heart  loves  such  and  heartily  salutes 
them  and  theirs,  and  prays  for  your  preservation  in  the 
Lord's  everlasting  truth  to  the  end  of  time ;  and  the  way 
of  it  is,  to  take  the  Lord  along  with  you  in  all  ^-our  enter- 
prises to  give  you  right  sight,  true  counsil,  and  a  just 
temper  or  moderation  in  all  things,  you  knowing  right 
well  the  Lord  our  God  is  neer  at  hand.  Now  know,  that 
tho  I  have  not  actually  sold  my  Governmt.  to  our  truly 
Good  Queen,  yet  her  able  Ld.  treasurer  and  I  have  agreed 


218  ORIGINAL     LETTERS 

it;  and  that  alTaire  of  the  Prizes,  the  Bearer  came  hither 
abt.  is  part  of  ye  Queen's  payment,  viz.,  her  one-third ; 
and  the  other  comes  very  opertunely,  that  belongs  to  me, 
which  I  hope  J.  Logan  Avill  take  care  of,  in  the  utmost 
farthing,  and  remit  it  to  me  first,  to  whom,  I  suppose, 
orders  will  goe  by  this  opertunity  from  ye  treasury  to  yt 
effect.  But  I  have' taken  effectuall  care,  yt  all  ye  Laws 
and  priviledges  I  have  graunted  to  you,  shall  be  observed 
by  the  Queen's  Governors,  &c. :  and  that  we  who  are 
friends  shall  be  in  a  more  particular  manner  regarded 
and  treated  by  ye  Queen.  So  that  you  will  not,  I  hope 
and  believe,  have  a  less  interest  in  the  govermt.,  being 
humble  and  discreet  in  our  conduct,  and  you  will  finde 
all  the  charters  and  Proprietary  Govermts.  annexed  to 
the  Crown  by  act  of  Parliament  next  winter;  and  per- 
haps Col.  Quarry,  if  not  J.  Moore,  may  happen  to  be 
otherwise  employed,  notAvithstanding  the  politick  02;)inion 
of  one  of  my  officers  in  that  Governmt.  that  is  still  for 
gaining  them  which  I  almost  think  impossible.  But  be 
that  as  it  will,  I  purpose  to  see  you  if  God  give  me  life 
this  fall,  but  I  grow  ould  and  iufirme,  yet  would  Gladly 
see  you  once  more  before  I  dye,  and  my  young  sons  and 
daughter  also,  settled  upon  good  Tracts  of  Land,  for  them 
and  theirs'  after  them,  to  clear  and  settle  upon,  as  Jacob's 
sons  did.  I  close  when  I  tell  you  that  I  desire  fervent 
prayers  to  the  Lord  for  continuing  my  life,  that  I  may 
see  Pennsylvania  once  more,  before  I  die,  and  that  I  am 

your  ffaithful  Loving 
friend, 

WM.  PENN. 


AND     DOCUMENTS.  219 

Superscription. 

For  my  De.  firiends, 

S.  Carpenter,  Ed.  Shippen,  Ricd.  Hill,  J.  Norris,  C. 
Peusj,  S.  Preston,  T.  Story,  Gr.  Owen,  &c.,  at  Philadel- 
phia in  Pennsylvania. 
Pr.  J.  ffi?ench. 


II.  THE  WILL  OF  WILLIAM  PENN  WITH  THE  CODICILS, 

TOGETHER   WITH   THE   OPINION   OP   COUNSEL   THEREON. 

[These  papers,  with  the  subjoined  letters  of  Wiliam  Penn,  Junr.,  and 
of  Simon  Clement  to  James  Logan,  are  printed  from  an  old  MS.  in 
the  possession  of  T.  I.  Wharton,  Esq.,  said  to  be  "  taken  from  a 
copy  belonging  to  the  Assembly."] 

I,  William  Penn,  Esquire,  so  called.  Chief  Proprietary 
and  Governor  of  the  province  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
territories  thereunto  belonging,  being  of  sound  mind  and 
understanding,  for  which  I  bless  God,  do  make  and  ordain 
this  my  last  will  and  testament.  My  eldest  son  being 
well  provided  for  by  a  settlement  of  his  mother's,  and  my 
father's  estate,  I  give  and  dispose  of  the  rest  of  my  estate 
in  manner  following.  The  government  of  the  province 
of  Pennsylvania  and  territories  thereunto  belonging,  and 
all  powers  relatmg  thereunto,  I  give  and  devise  to  the 
most  honorable  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  and  Earl  Mortimer, 
and  to  AVill.,  Earl  Pawlet,  so  called,  and  their  heirs,  upon 
trust  to  dispose  thereof  to  the  Queen  or  any  other  person 
to  the  best  advantage  and  profit  they  can,  to  be  apphed 
in  such  manner  as  I  shall  hereinafter  direct. 


220  ORIGINAL    LETTERS. 

I  give  and  devi.se  to  iny  dear  wife,  Hannah  Penn,  and 
her  father,  Thomas  Callowhill,  and  to  my  good  friends, 
Margaret  Lowtlier  my  dear  sister,  and  to  Gilbert  Heath- 
cott,  Physition,  Samuel  Waldenfield,  John  Field,  Henry 
Goldney,  all  living  in  England,  and  to  my  friends,  Samuel 
Carpenter,  Richard  Hill,  Isaac  Norris,  Samuel  Preston, 
and  James  Logan,  living  in  or  near  Pennsylvania,  and 
their  heirs,  all  my  lands,  tenements,  and  hereditaments 
whatsoever,  rents  and  other  profits  situate,  lying  and 
being  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  territories  thereunto  be- 
longing or  elsewhere  in  America,  upon  trust  that  they 
shall  sell  and  dispose  of  so  much  thereof  as  shall  be 
sufficient  to  pay  all  my  just  debts,  and  from  and  after 
payment  thereof,  shall  convey  unto  each  of  the  three 
children  of  my  son  William  Penn,  Gulielma  Maria, 
Springet,  and  William  respectively,  and  to  their  respective 
heirs,  ten  thousand  acres  of  land  in  some  proper  and  bene- 
ficial places  to  be  set  out  by  my  trustees  aforesaid. 

All  the  rest  of  my  lands  and  hereditaments,  whatso- 
ever situate  lying  and  being  in  America,  I  will  that  my 
trustees  shall  convey  to  and  amongst  my  children,  which 
I  have  by  my  present  wife,  in  such  proportions,  and  for 
such  estates  as  my  said  wife  shall  think  fit.  But  before 
such  conveyances  shall  be  made  to  my  said  children,  I 
will  that  my  said  trustees  shall  convey  to  my  daughter 
Auhry,  whom  I  omitted  to  name  before,  ten  thousand 
acres  of  my  said  lands  in  such  places  as  my  said  trustees 
shall  think  fit. 

All  my  personal  estate  in  Pennsylvania  and  elsewhere, 
and  arrears  of  rent  due  there,  I  give  to  my  said  dear  wife 


AND    DOCUMENTS.  221 

(whom  I  make  my  sole  executrix),  for  the  equal  benefit 
of  her  and  her  children. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  set  my  hand  and  seal,  to 
this  my  will,  which  I  declare  to  be  my  last  will,  revoking 
all  others  formerly  made  by  me 

WM.  PENN.  *  SEAL.  I 

z-  *  *  *  «  * 

Signed,  sealed,  and  published  by  the  testator,  William 
Penn,  in  the  presence  of  us  who  set  our  names  as  wit- 
nesses thereof  in  the  presence  of  the  said  testator  after 
the  interlineation  of  the  words  above,  vizt.  {wliom  Imcike 
my  sole  Executrix),  Robert  West,  Sarah  West,  Susanna 
Reading,  Thomas  Pyle,  Robert  Lomax. 

This  will  I  made  when  ill  of  a  fever  at  London,  with  a 
clear  understanding  of  what  I  did  then.  But  because  of 
some  unworthy  expressions  belying  God's  goodness  to  me 
as  if  I  knew  not  what  I  did,  I  do  now,  that  I  am  recovered 
through  God's  goodness,  hereby  declare  it  is  my  last  will 
and  testament,  at  Ruscomb  in  Berkshire  this  27th  of  the 
3d  mo.  called  May,  1712. 

AVM.  PENN. 

Witnesses  present,  Elizabeth  Penn,  Thomas  Pyle, 
Thomas  Penn,  Elizabeth  Anderson,  Mary  Chandler, 
Jonah  Dee,  Mary  Dee. 

Postscript  in  my  own  hand  —  As  a  further  testimony 
of  my  love  to  my  dear  wife,  I  of  my  own  mind  give  unto 
her  out  of  the  rents  of  America,  ^dzt.,  Pennsylvania,  &c., 
three  hundred  pounds  a  year  for  her  natural  life,  and  for 


222  ORIGINAL    LETTERS 

her  care  and  charge  over  my  children,  in  their  education 

of  Avhich  she  knows  my  mind,  as  also  that  I  desire  they 

may  settle  at  least  in  good  part  in  America,  where  I 

leave  them  so  good  an  interest  to  be  for  their  inheritance 

from  generation  to  generation,  which  the  Lord  preserve 

and  prosper.     Amen. 

WM.  PENN.* 

[Here  follows  the  Probate  made  3d  November,  1718.] 

*  The  following  is  copied  by  me  from  an  original  will  of  Penn,  in  the 
possession  of  the  family  of  the  late  Mr.  William  Logan  Fisher,  of 
Germantown. 

It  is  a  holograph,  and  consists  of  seven  folio  pages,  each  of  which  is 
signed  at  the  foot  by  the  testator. 

This  is  probably  the  will  to  which  Logan  refers  in  the  accompany- 
ing letter,  and  which  was  made  as  Penn  was  about  to  sail  for  Eng- 
land, never,  as  it  proved,  to  return. 

EXTRACT    OF   A   LETTER  FROM  JAMES  LOGAN   TO   HANNAH  PENN. 

Dated  ''Philadelphia,  llth,  3d  mo.,  1721. 
"Honored  Mistress:" 

"  The  Proprietor  in  a  will  left  me  at  his  departure  hence  gave  all  his 
negroes  their  freedom ;  but  this  is  entirely  private ;  however,  there 
are  very  few  left.  Sam  died  soon  after  your  departure  hence,  and 
his  brother  James  very  lately.  Chevalier,  by  a  written  order  from 
his  master,  had  his  liberty  several  years  ago,  so  that  there  are  none 
left  but  Sue,  whom  Letitia  claims  or  did  claim  as  given  to  her  when 
she  went  to  England,  but  how  rightfully  I  know  not.  These  things 
you  can  best  discuss.  She  has  several  children.  There  are,  besides, 
two  old  negroes  quite  worn,  that  remained  of  three  that  I  recovered 
near  eighteen  years  ago  of  E.  Gibbs'  Estate,  of  New  Castle  Co." 

[will   of    WILLIAM   PENN,] 

''Newcastle  on  Delaware,  BOth  8br,  1701 
*'  Because  it  is  appointed  for  all  men  once  to  dye,  and  yt  their  days 
are  in  the  hand  of  ye  Almighty  their  Creator,  I  think  fitt  upon  this 
present  voyage  to  make  my  last  will   and  testament,  which  is  as 
follows. 


AND    DOCUMENTS.  223 


The  Case  of  William  Penn,  Esq. 

King  Charles  the  2d,  by  his  Letters  Patent,  dated  1680, 
grants  to  William  Penn,  Esq.,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  a 

Since  my  estate,  both  in  England  and  Ireland,  are  either  entailed 
or  incumbred,  my  will  is,  that  wh'^''  is  saleable,  be  sould  for  payment 
of  my  just  Debts,  and  all  my  household  stuff,  plate,  and  linen,  not 
given  or  disposed  of  to  my  children  by  their  relations,  and  if  there 
should  be  any  overplus,  that  it  goe  equally  between  my  son  William 
and  daughter  Lastitia,  as  to  my  estate  in  Europe,  be  it  Land, 
houses,  or  moveables,  except  my  gold  chain  and  meddall,  w'''  I  give 
to  my  son  William ;  and  except  such  estate  as  I  had  with  or  since  I 
married  this  wife,  flfor  my  estate  in  America,  it  is  also  incumbered, 
but  not  with  the  tenth  part  of  the  true  valine  thereof — I  mean  of 
the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  and  counties  annexed  —  when  that 
incumbrance  is  discharged,  I  give  my  son  William  all  my  sayd 
Province  and  Territorys,  to  him  and  his  Heirs  forever  as  Proprietary 
and  Govern.  But  out  of  or  rather  in  the  sayd  soyle  thereof,  I  give 
to  my  daughter,  Lastitia  Penn,  one  hundred  thousand  acres,  seaventy 
of  w'''  out  of  or  rather  the  sayd  Province,  and  ten  thousand  acres  out 
of  or  rather  in  each  of  the  Lower  Countys  of  the  territorys. 

I  also  give  to  my  son  John  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres, 
of  w"''  one  hundred  thousand  in  the  Province,  and  fifty  thousand 
acres  in  the  Lower  Countys ;  and  I  also  bequeath  to  him  my  tenth 
or  Proprietary  ship  of  Salem  tenth  or  County,  in  West  New  Jersey, 
to  my  sayd  son  John  and  his  heirs  forever,  with  all  rents,  ProflSts, 
and  Interests  therein. 

I  also  will  that  the  Childe  my  De :  wife,  Hannah  Penn,  now  goes 
with,  shall  have  one  hundred  thousand  acres  if  a  boy,  a  seaventy 
thousand  if  a  Girle,  in  the  Province  aforesd ;  all  which  Land  so  given 
shall  lye  between  Susquehanagh  River  and  Delaware  Puver,  and  to 
be  taken  up  within  twelve  months  after  my  death.  If  my  encum- 
brances can  be  discharged  in  yt  time,  or  so  soon  as  they  are ;  but  so 
as  that  the  sayd  Lands  be  not  above  =  80  =  miles  above  a  due 
west  line,  to  be  drawn  from  Philadelphia  to  Susquehanah  River,  and 
to  be  layd  out  in  ye  way  of  townships,  and  to  pay  to  my  son  William 
one  silver  shilling  for  every  township  of  five  thousand  acres  when 
taken  up  forever,  in  lieu  of  all  demands  and  services,  hereby  requiring 


224  ORIGINAL    LETTERS 

tract  of  land  in  America,  ^vitli  all  the  islands  therein  con- 
tained, &c.,  as  the  same  is  therein  described,  whom  he 


my  sayd  son  William  to  erect  all  or  any  part  of  ye  aforesayd  Lands 
into  manners,  with  due  powers  over  their  own  Tennants,  according 
to  my  sayd  children's  respective  agreements  with  them,  when  they  or 
any  for  them  require  the  same. 

I  also  give  to  my  De:  Wife  five  thousand  acres  of  land  as  a  token 
of  my  love,  to  be  taken  up  as  before  exprcst,  and  upon  ye  same  ac- 
knowlcdgcmt,  and  within  ye  sayd  limits,  in  my  Province  of  Pennsil- 
vania,*  to  her  and  her  heirs  and  assigns  forever ;  and  so  I  under- 
stand in  my  other  afore-mentioned  graunts  to  my  children,  viz.,  that 
I  give  to  them  and  their  heirs  and  assignes  forever.  I  also  leave  my 
De :  Sister  and  her  children  some  token  of  my  love,  such  as  my  wife 
shall  think  fit  in  memoriall  of  me.  Also  to  her  father  and  mother 
the  like. 

I  give  to  my  Servts,  John  and  Mary  Sach  *  *  (the  rest  of  this 
name  is  unintelligible),  three  hundred  acres  between  them  ;  to  James 
Logan  one  thousand  acres,  and  my  blacks  their  freedom,  as  under  my 
hand  already ;  and  to  ould  Sam  100  acres,  to  be  his  children's  after 
he  and  wife  are  dead,  forever,  on  common  rent  of  one  bushel  of  wheat 
yearly,  forever, — for  the  performance  of  which  I  desire  my  loveing 
friends,  Edward  Shippen,  Saml.  Carpenter,  Edward  Penington,  and 
James  Logan,  in  America,  or  any  three  of  them,  and  Benjamin  Seal, 
Thomas  Callowhill,  Henry  Goldney,  Jos.  Pike,  in  England,  or  any 
three  of  them,  to  see  this  my  last  will  observed,  and  that  I  have 
right  done  me  about  my  incumbrances,  that  my  family  sufl'er  not  by 
oppressive  demands,  but  get  me  and  myn  righted  in  law  and  Equity. 
And  I  do  hereby  charge  all  my  children,  as  their  loveing  dying 
father's  last  command  and  desire,  that  they  never  goe  to  law,  but  if 
any  difi'erence  should  arise,  w""  I  would  hope  will  not,  that  they  be  con- 
cluded by  ye  Judgment  of  frds,  to  be  chosen  by  the  meeting  of  suS"er- 
ings  of  ye  people  called  Quakers,  in  England,  for  English  and  Irish 
concerns ;  and  in  America,  to  ye  firds  of  the  quarterly  meeting  at 
Philadelphia,  in  Pennsilvania,  for  a  finall  decision. 

I  do  further  ordain  by  this  will,  that  what  estate  I  here  give  to 
either  or  any  of  my  children  be  never  alienated  from  my  family,  for 


*  Tcnn,  it  will  be  perceived,  spells  this  title  indifferently,  with  a  y  and  an  i.- 
Editob. 


AND    DOCUMENTS.  225 

creates  and  constitutes  true  and  absolute  Proprietaries  of 
the  said  county  and  premises,  saving  to  his  Majesty,  his 
heirs  and  successors,  their  allegiance,  and  also  the  sove- 

want  of  heirs  of  their  own  body ;  but  that  debt  being  payd,  they  may 
owe  the  rest  to  be  inherited  by  ye  next  of  blood  of  my  Body  and 
discent,  and  for  want  thereof,  to  my  De :  Sister  and  her  Blood,  in  such 
manner  as  she  shall  appoint. 

And  now,  if  ever  I  have  done  a  wrong  to  any,  I  desire  their  for- 
giveness ;  and  for  all  ye  good  offices  I  have  ever  done,  I  give  God,  yt 
Enabled  me,  the  honour  and  thanks ;  and  for  all  my  enemies,  and 
their  Evil  reflections  and  reports  and  endeavours  to  mine  me  in 
nam6  and  estate,  I  do  say,  ye  Lord  forgive  them  and  amend  them ; 
for  I  have  ever,  from  a  child,  loved  the  best  things  and  people,  and 
have  had  a  heart,  I  bless  the  name  of  Allmighty  God,  to  do  good, 
without  gain,  yea  sometimes  for  Evill  and  to  consume  my  own,  to 
serve  others,  w'*"  has  been  my  greatest  burden  and  my  infirmity: 
having  a  mind  not  only  just  but  kinde,  even  to  a  fault,  for  it  ha3 
made  me  sometimes  hardly  so  just  by  means  of  debts  thereby  con- 
tracted, as  my  integrity  would  have  made  me. 

And  now,  for  all  my  good  friends,  that  have  loved  and  helped  me, 
do  so  still,  in  my  poor  children,  w*""  you  can,  and  God  Allmighty  be  to 
you  and  yours  an  ample  reward.  You  have  my  hearty  and  gratefull 
acknowledgements  and  commemoration,  who  never  lived  to  myselfe 
from  my  very  youth,  but  to  you  and  the  whole  world  in  love  and 
service.  This  I  ordain  to  be  (and  accordingly  is)  my  last  will  and 
testament,  revoaking  all  other. 

Given  under  my  hande  and  seal,  the  day  and  year  above  written. 

WM.  PENN." 
Sealed  and  Delivered 
in  ye  presence  of 
RiCHD.  Halliwell, 
Jos.  Wood, 
Rob.  Asheton, 
James  Logan. 

The  interlineations  were  my  writeing,  they  are  twelve  in  number, 
the  pages  "y********** 
(The  rest  of  the  sentence  is  lost). — Editor. 
15 


226  ORIGINAL    LETTERS. 

reigiity  of  the  said  country.  To  hold  to  the  said  WilHara 
Penn,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  to  the  only  use  and  behoof 
of  him  and  them  forever.  To  be  holden  of  his  Majesty, 
his  heirs  and  successors,  Kings  of  England,  as  of  their 
Castle  of  Windsor,  in  free  and  common  Soccage  by  Fealty 
only,  and  not  in  Capite,  or  in  Knights  service ;  yielding 
and  paying  two  Beaver  Skins  yearly,  and  the  fifth  part 
of  all  Gold  and  Silver  Ore,  clear  of  all  charges.  Erects 
the  said  country  into  a  province  or  seignority,  by  the 
name  of  Pensilvania.  With  power  to  the  said  WilUam 
Penn  and  his  heirs,  and  to  his  and  their  deputies  and 
lieutenants,  for  the  good  government  of  the  said  countrys, 
to  ordain  laws,  &c.,  &c.,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the 
Assembly,  &c.,  &c.  (reciting  other  powers.) 

The  said  William  Penn  died  about  July,  1718,  leaving 
his  last  will  and  testament,  attested  by  six  witnesses, 
viz. : 

[Here  follows  a  true  copy  of  the  will  and  codicil.] 


Questions. 


1.  Is  the  Devise  of  the  Government  of  Pensilvania  to 
the  two  trustee  Earls  good ;  and  if  good,  to  whom  doth 
the  benefit  of  the  trust  belong. 

2.  Is  the  Devise  of  the  Lands,  &c.,  in  Pensilvania,  to 
Hannah  Penn  and  the  other  Trustees  good. 

The  devise  of  the  government,  &c.,  of  Pensilvania,  made 
by  the  testator,  Mr.  Penn,  to  the  Earl  of  Oxford  and  Earl 


AND    DOCUMENTS.  227 

Powlet,  seems  to  be  to  compleat  a  treaty  which  he  was  at 
that  time  making  with  the  Crown,  whereby  he  was  to 
have  a  considerable  sum  of  money  for  the  government ; 
and  the  testator  seems  likewise  to  make  a  particular  dis- 
position of  that  money  by  his  will,  but  it  is  plain  he 
made  none.  The  occasion  of  which  may  be,  that  the 
will  was  made  in  a  hurry,  and  in  the  time  of  a  desperate 
illness,  as  appears  by  the  codicil.  I  am,  therefore,  of 
opinion,  that  the  two  Earls  are  trustees  only  for  the  heir 
at  law,  upon  whom  the  government  would  devolve  in  case 
there  had  been  no  will.  But  as  to  the  lands  devised  to 
the  widow  and  her  co-trustees  in  case  the  will  be  well 
proved,  I  take  it  to  be  a  good  devise,  unless  these  lands 
or  some  quit-rents  out  of  them  be  inseparably  annexed  to 
the  government ;  and  then  such  annexed  lands  or  quit- 
rents  will  go  with  the  government. 

JO.  HUNGERFORD. 
31  Jan.,  1718. 


Qvestions. 


1.  Is  the  devise  of  the  Government  of  Pensilvania  to 
the  two  trustee  Earls  good ;  and  if  good,  to  whom  doth 
the  benefit  of  the  trust  belong. 

2.  Is  the  devise  of  the  Lands,  &c.,  to  Hannah  Penn 
and  other  trustees  good, 

I  conceive  the  devise  of  the  Government  to  the  trustees 
and  their  heirs  to  be  good,  and  the  same  to  be  in  trust  for 


228  ORIGINAL    LETTERS 

the  lieir  of  the  devisee,  and  that  the  devise  of  the  lands 
to  Hannah  Penn  and  the  other  trustees  is  also  good. 

FRA.  ANNESLEY. 
29  Jan.,  1718. 


Questions.  —  Same  as  above. 

Upon  perusing  a  copy  of  the  Letters  Patent,  I  am  of 
opinion,  that  the  Government  thereby  granted  to  Wm. 
Penn  and  his  heirs,  doth  consist  in  the  privileges  and 
jurisdictions  to  them  also  thereby  granted. 

2.  That  the  said  government,  privileges  and  juris- 
dictions, are  thereby  inseparably  annexed  to  the  real  and 
predial  propriety  of  the  said  province  and  seignoritie. 

3.  And  wherefore,  as  to  the  will,  I  take  it  that  the 
devise  of  the  Government  is  void ;  the  testator  plainly 
intending  thereby  to  sever  it  from  the  dominion  of  the 
land. 

4.  That  for  the  same  reason  the  devise  of  the  land  in 
Pensilvania  to  Hannah  and  the  other  trustees  is  also 
void ;  the  plain  intent  being  to  ahen  the  propriety  dis- 
tinct and  apart  from  the  Government,  which  agrees  not, 
as  I  think,  with  the  law  and  such  Seignories. 

5.  If  the  devise  of  the  Government  shall  be  deemed 
good,  yet  the  same  being  in  trust  to  be  disposed  of  for  the 
best  advantage,  to  be  apply'd  as  the  testator  should  after- 
wards by  the  will  direct,  and  there  being  no  such  direction 
in  the  will,  nor  any  express  devise  or  bequest  to  Wilham 
Penn,  the  testator's  heir  at  law,  I  conceive  the  said  trust 


AND    DOCUMENTS.  229 

descends  to  him,  and  that  he  ought  to  have  the  advantage 
thereof. 

G.  SAVAGE. 

2ith  Sept.,  1718. 


III.   INSTRUCTIONS   FROM  WILLIAM   PENN,  JR., 

TO   GOVERNOR   KEITH. 

Instructions  to  William  Keith,  Esq.,  Lieutenant  Governor  and  Com- 
mander in  Chief  of  the  Province  of  Pensilvania  and  counties  of 
New  Castle,  Kent,  and  Sussex,  upon  Delaware. 

You  are  upon  receiving  these  instructions  immediately 
to  call  together  the  Council,  and  with  them  in  the  most 
pubhc  manner  make  known  my  accession  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  said  province  and  counties,  and  assure  the 
country  of  my  great  affection  to  them,  and  hearty  wishes 
for  their  welfare,  and  that  I  shall  always  look  upon  their 
interest  as  my  own.  And  I  believe  on  this  occasion  it 
will  be  proper  to  read  the  late  King  Charles  the-  Second's 
Letters  patent  to  my  late  father,  and  their  proprietor, 
and  his  heirs,  pubhckly  to  the  people.  However,  this  I 
leave  wholly  to  your's  and  the  Council's  prudence  to  do 
therein  as  may  be  thought  most  convenient,  and  for  the 
honor  of  the  Government. 

I  think  it  would  be  well  done  if  the  present  members 
of  Council  be  continued,  for  I  would  not  have  more  alter- 
ations made  in  Government  upon  my  accessions  thereto 
than  what  are  absolutely  necessary. 

K  you  can  procure  a  militia  to  be  settled  by  law,  slip 
not  the  occasion  of  doing  it.     But  as  that  country  was 


230  ORIGINAL     LETTERS 

chiefly  at  first  settled  hy  Quakers,  I  would  not  have  them 
oppressed  on  any  account. 

Protect  the  people  under  your  care  in  all  their  Rights, 
Privileges,  and  Liberties  my  father  granted  them  by 
charter  or  otherwise,  or  that  they  ought  to  enjoy  as 
Englishmen. 

Observe  the  law  for  liberty  of  conscience,  which  I  take 
to  be  a  fundamental  one  in  Pensilvania;  and  was  one 
great  encouragement  for  the  Quakers  to  transport  them- 
selves thither,  and  to  make  it  what  it  now  is,  for  which 
they  merit  the  favor  of  my  family,  as  well  as  on  many 
other  accounts,  and  shall  always  have  it  when  in  my 
power ;  and  this  I  desire  you  will  let  that  people  know. 

But  as  I  profess  myself  to  be  a  member  of  the  Church 
of  England,  therefore  I  recommend  it  to  you  to  be  careful 
of  her  interest,  and  that  you  encourage  and  protect  the 
clergy,  and  employ  where  you  can  deserving  members  of 
that  communion ;  for  I  think  they  ought  to  have  at  least 
an  equal  share  in  the  administration  and  public  offices 
with  their  neighbors ;  and  discountenance  all  Anti-Trini- 
tarians and  Libertines. 

Protect  in  their  possessions  such  Strangers  as  are  settled 
amongst  us ;  for  the  public  faith  is  concerned  in  it. 

Let  the  law  be  your  guide  in  all  cases ;  and  protect  the 
officers  of  the  Customs  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty,  and 
use  the  advice  of  the  Council  in  all  cases  of  importance. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  the  fourteenth  day  of 
January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1718. 

WM.  PEXN. 

[Here  follows  the  Commission  to  Governor  Keith.] 


AND    DOCUMENTS.  231 


lY.   LETTERS  FROM  SIMON"   CLEMENTS 

(uncle   to   the  widow    op   WILLIAM   PENN)   TO   JAMES  LOGAN. 

Lcytidon,  SQth  December,  1718. 
Sir, 

Coming  into  the  City  this  morning,  my  cousin  Goldney 
tells  me  a  Ship  is  just  parting  for  New  York,  and  that  I 
should  lose  the  opportunity  of  writing  by  her  if  I  did  not 
do  it  immediately.  I  would  not,  therefore,  omit  this 
occasion  of  letting  you  know  that  your  letters  with  the 
copy  of  the  act  of  ParHament  came  safe  to  my  hands 
about  a  week  since,  but  having  sent  them  to  my  niece  for 
her  perusal,  I  am  not  now  able  to  answer  them  in  so  par- 
ticular a  manner  as  I  ought,  and  therefore  must  defer  it 
till  the  next  occasion.  In  the  meantime  I  am  very  glad 
to  find  that  you  had  so  prudently  provided  for  the  suc- 
cession of  the  government  of  the  province  before  the  late 
Governor's  decease,  as  that  the  country  can  receive  no 
prejudice  for  want  of  renewing  the  present  Governor's 
commission,  which  has  been  delayed  principally  by  reason 
of  Mr.  Penn's  at  first  obstructing  the  proving  his  father's 
Will  in  the  Prerogative  Court,  which,  however,  he  has 
since  consented  to  and  'tis  done,  and  I  have  a  duplicate 
of  it  ready,  which  I  choose  rather  to  send  you  by  some 
ship  that  goes  directly  for  your  place  than  by  this  con- 
veyance. 

We  are  now  also  upon  proving  the  will  in  Chancery, 
but  there  are  some  disputes  yet  subsisting  between  the 


232  ORIGINAL     LETTERS 

young  gentleman  and  his  mother-in-law,  which  they  have 
mutually  promised  shall  be  settled  by  an  amicable  bill  in 
Chancery,  and  until  some  few  points  are  agreed  between 
them  which  are  in  agitation,  he  delays  giving  his  answer 
to  the  bill  we  have  brought  for  proving  the  will,  but  as  I 
have  said  before,  there  is  no  appearance  but  that  all  their 
differences  will  be  adjusted  in  a  friendly  manner;  and 
my  niece  will  take  the  best  advice  she  can  for  putting  the 
management  of  the  propriety  into  such  a  method,  as  that 
the  trustees  may  act  with  ease  and  safety ;  and  soon  as 
conveniently,  may  be  we  shall  endeavor  to  get  the 
governor's  commission  renewed  in  due  form. 

I  desired  you  in  my  first  letter  to  transmit  as  exact  an 
account  as  you  could  of  the  quit-rents  and  other  revenues 
of  the  proprietary,  and  of  what  debts  remain  unpaid,  &c., 
of  which  you  have  not  been  pleased  to  take  any  notice  in 
your  answer.  Wherefore  I  must  renew  my  request  to 
you  on  that  head,  it  being  highly  necessary  at  the  time 
that  those  matters  should  be  well  understood.  But  above 
all,  I  must  pray  you  to  let  me  have  by  the  first  oppor- 
tunity such  an  account  of  what  the  profits  accruing  to 
the  governors  (besides  the  gifts  of  the  assembly)  do 
amount  to,  comrnunibus  annis,  as  I  may  vouch  and  stand 
by,  if  there  be  occasion  when  I  come  to  treat  with  the 
Ministers  upon  making  good  the  contract  for  sale  of  the 
government,  which  I  hope  we  may  bring  them  to  at  long 
run.  I  am  truly  glad  to  find  that  your  governor  manages 
so  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people,  and  that  that 
scandalous  letter  I  hinted  to  you  merited  no  more  credit 


AND    DOCUMENTS.  233 

than  we  gave  it.     I  have  no  more  to  add  at  present,  but 
that  I  am  truly  your  assured  friend  and  humble  servant. 

SIMON  CLEMENTS. 
Per  the  Samuel ;  Samuel  Holmes, 
Master  for  New  York. 


} 


The  Same  to  the  Same. 

London,  March  6,  1718-19. 
Sir, 

The  foregoing  is  a  copy  of  what  I  writ  you  by  way  of 
New  York,  and  I  am  now  reviewing  your  two  letters  of 
the  1st  and  4th  of  9ber,  that  I  may  be  more  particular  in 
my  answer  thereto  than  I  could  at  that  time,  for  want  of 
having  them  by  me. 

I  am  sorry  to  observe  that  the  affairs  of  the  lower 
counties  lie  in  so  unsettled  a  posture,  for  which  I  see  no 
remedy,  but  to  wait  with  patience  'till  we  can  find  a 
favorable  opportunity  to  move  the  Ministers  to  take  some 
effectual  resolutions  for  the  adjusting  all  those  depend- 
encies. In  order  to  which,  I  iiave  long  since  formed  a 
scheme,  which  I  hope  may  prove  acceptable  to  them ;  but 
their  time  and  thoughts  have  been,  and  still  continue  to 
be,  so  much  taken  up  in  the  many  incidents  that  have 
happened  in  the  publick  affairs,  that  it  would  be  in  vain 
to  make  any  application  to  them  in  these  matters  till 
they  are  more  at  leisure  to  hearken  to  them.  In  the 
meantime  we  have  the  satisfaction  to  see  that  they  show 
no  disposition  to  gratify  the   Scotch   pretentions  which 


234  ORIGINAL     LETTERS 

have  been  suspended  this  long  time,  and  they  have  not 
been  able  with  all  their  interest  to  get  the  Attorney 
General's  report  read  in  Council,  though  they  have  had 
it  above  a  year  and  a  half.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  your 
governor  had  come  to  some  good  understanding,  at  least 
for  the  present  with  Col.  Hart,  for  quieting  the  contests 
touching  the  limits  of  Maryland.  I  was  told  that  the 
young  Lord  Baltimore  had  determined  to  let  that  matter 
rest  till  he  comes  of  age,  and  then  I  hope  to  find  means 
to  accommodate  it  with  him,  by  the  interposition  of  some 
friends  to  both  sides;  and  the  solid  arguments  for  the 
support  of  my  niece's  interests,  which  you  sent  over  some 
time  since,  and  which  I  have  read  with  a  great  deal  of 
satisfaction,  will  abundantly  instruct  her  friends  in  all 
that  may  be  requisite  for  the  management  of  that  affair. 
I  have  very  little  acquaintance  with  Col.  Gookin,  and 
know  as  little  of  his  conversation  and  pretentions.  But 
whatsoever  his  inclinations  may  be,  I  believe  neither  you 
nor  we  have  anything  to  apprehend  from  what  he  can  do. 
You  fear,  I  perceive,  that  the  proprietors  choice  of 
trustees  may  prove  to  the  prejudice  of  his  family,  but  you 
know  that  at  least,  at  that  time,  they  were  the  fittest 
that  could  be  thought  on;  and  though  they  are  since 
grown  a  little  out  of  fashion,  the  using  their  names  on 
this  occasion  can  give  no  ofience  to  those  now  in  play. 
Great  men  lay  no  stress  on  such  little  things.  I  prepared 
a  draught  of  a  commission  for  those  Lords  to  confirm 
your  governor,  by  the  authority  devolved  upon  them, 
which  I  left  several  weeks  since  with  Lord  Oxford,  to 
peruse  and  communicate  to  Lord  Powlet,  but  I  can't  yet 


AND     DOCUMENTS.  235 

get  him  to  dispatcli  it.  And  you  know  we  cannot  be  as 
pressing  on  men  of  their  degree  as  we  might  on  those  of 
our  own  rank,  but  I  shall  continue  my  solicitation  in  it 
as  I  can  find  opportunity. 

In  the  meantime  I  am  glad  that  your, own  happy  pre- 
caution has  prevented  the  inconveniences  that  might  have 
arisen  from  such  delays  which  we  were  not  able  to  remedy. 
The  proprietor's  will  may  indeed  be  said  to  have  been  made 
in  haste  as  you  guess :  but  it  was  dictated  by  his  friend,  Mr. 
"West,  though  the  blunders  committed  therein  could  not 
have  been  expected  from  a  man  of  his  accuracy.  The 
truth  is  that  he  himself  had  laboured  under  a  paralitick 
affection,  from  which  he  never  recovered  the  use  of  his 
hmbs  one  side,  nor  I  beheve  at  that  time  the  strength  of 
his  capacity,  though  it  were  afterwards  perfectly  restored, 
and  continued  to  the  time  of  his  death  about  six  months 
since.  But  for  the  settling  all  things  right  my  niece  is, 
as  I  told  you  in  my  last,  proceeding  to  get  the  Will  proved 
in  Chancery,  and  then  she  will  be  empowered  to  fix  such 
trustees,  as  may  effectually  act  in  her  affairs.  In  the 
mean  it  is  happy  that  the  trustees  of  the  mortgage  are 
sufficiently  authorized  to  manage  all  that  is  requisite 
there;  and  though  I  am  pleased  to  see  that  you  have 
made  some  handsome  remittances  towards  the  lessening 
that  debt,  yet  I  can't  think  so  well  of  the  retaining  the 
one-half  of  the  money  received  for  the  lands  sold  Mr. 
Dickinson,  touching  which  I  writ  you  in  my  first  letter, 
though  you  have  not  been  pleased  to  say  anything  of  it 
in  your  answer.  I  hope,  however,  the  persons  concerned 
will  consider  that  all  the  power  they  have  to  sell  lands  is 


23G  ORIGINAL     LETTERS 

from  the  mortgagees,  and  that  'tis  to  them  they  must  be 
accountable  for  the  produce,  who  alone,  but  nobody  else, 
can  discharge  them.  'Tis  plain  also  that  the  present  Mr. 
AVilHam  Penn  can  have  no  just  pretensions  to  anything 
there  but  what  had  been  actually  settled  upon  him  by  his 
father,  and  certainly  they  must  believe  that  those  lands 
were  not,  or  else  they  would  never  have  presumed  to  sell 
them.  I  should,  therefore,  think  that  they  would  find 
themselves  obliged  to  remit  the  remaining  part  of  the 
money  to  the  mortgagees,  and  leave  it  to  us  to  dispute 
any  pretensions  thereon  (for  which  I  am  yet  well  satisfied 
there  can  be  no  ground)  that  may  be  made  here  and 
which  can  in  no  wise  affect  them. 

My  niece  and  her  son-in-law  met  several  times  whilst 
they  were  both  in  town,  and  mutually  declared  them- 
selves desirous  to  cultivate  the  former  friendship  in  the 
family,  and  to  submit  all  their  differences  to  be  decided 
by  a  decree  in  the  Court  of  Chancery,  to  be  obtained  with 
as  little  expense  and  contest  as  possible,  and  I  believe 
they  will  take  that  way  at  last,  though  the  young  gentle- 
man seems  fickle  and  unconstant,  and  has  been  ready  to 
fly  out  once  or  twice  since,  and  is  gone  again  to  France 
without  putting  in  his  answer  to  the  bill  for  proving  the 
Will,  which  must,  therefore,  be  at  a  stand  till  his  return, 
which  he  pretends  shall  be  in  this  or  the  next  month. 
His  agents  talk  as  if  he  beheves  the  AVill  has  not 
sufiiciently  conveyed  the  power  of  government  from  him, 
and  that  he  will  send  over  a  governor.  But  I  should 
think  either  he  has  more  discretion  than  to  offer  it  in 


AND     DOCUMENTS.  237 

earnest,  or  that  lie  would  not  find  anybody  fool  enough 
to  go  on  such  an  errand ;  at  least  I  am  confident  that  your 
governor  will  never  yield  up  his  authentick  authority  to 
any  person  who  should  come  up  with  a  sham  one. 

You  need  not  doubt  but  that  the  lower  counties  are  as 
efiectually  devised  as  the  upper,  for  if  the  word  ''Terri- 
tories" should  not  be  thought  sufficient  to  define,  the 
addition  "or  elsewhere  in  America,"  cannot  fail  to  com- 
prehend them,  which  you  will  find  to  be  the  words  of  the 
Will,  the  ofiice  copy  or  probate  whereof  Mr.  Page  sends 
you  over  to  keep  by  you. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  that  the  governor's  good  conduct  has 
gained  so  much  upon  the  afiection  of  your  people,  which 
was  what  I  expected  from  that  observation  which  I  had 
the  opportunity  to  make  of  his  prudence  and  temper  in 
that  little  of  his  conversation  which  I  had  the  honour  to 
have  (which  I  think  was  but  twice) ;  and  having  now 
written  to  you  all  that  present  occurs  to  me  in  relation  to 
my  niece's  affairs,  I  think  it  would  be  needless  for  me  to 
give  him  the  trouble  of  a  letter  only  with  the  bare 
(though  true)  compliment  that  his  good  management  will 
always  engage  me  to  employ  my  best  services  for  his 
interest. 

Your  letters  will  always  be  very  acceptable  to  me,  and 
though  the  distance  I  live  at  hinders  me  from  knowing 
the  times  when  ships  are  departing,  and  therefore  you 
may  find  me  not  to  be  as  punctual  a  correspondent,  yet  I 
shall  take  the  liberty  to  write  you  sometimes  as  matters 
may  offer  for  my  nieces's  service ;  and  if  there  be  any- 


238  ORIGINAL    LETTERS. 

tiling  wherein  I  could  be  serviceable  to  yourself  you  may 
always  freely  command. 

Sir,  Your  assured  Friend 
and  very  Ilble  Servant, 

S.  CLEMENT. 

Mr.  Page  has  given  me  the  Probate 
of  the  Will ;  so  it  comes  inclosed 
herewith. 

[Here  follows  a  copy  of  the  Probate  of  the  Will.] 


MEMOIRS 


OF  TEI 


HISTOEICAL     SOCIETY 


ov 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


(239) 


MEMOIES,   ETC. 


PAPEES  KELATIVE  TO  THE  VALEDICTORY  ADDRESS  OF  PRESI- 
DENT WASHINGTON. 

At  a  meeting  of  "7^/ie  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania^^ 
held  this  6th  day  of  February,  1826, 

A  communication  was  read  by  the  President  upon  the 
subject  of  the  Valedictory  Address  of  President  "Wash- 
ington — 

Whereupon, 

Resolved,  That  the  communication  of  the  President  be 
referred  to  a  committee,  with  instructions  to  make  such 
further  enquiries  as  they  may  deem  expedient  and  find 
practicable. 

And  the  President,  and  Mr.  Morgan  and  Mr.  IngersoU, 
were  appointed  the  committee. 

From  the  Minutes. 

T.  M.  Pettit,  Recording  Secretary. 


16  (241) 


242  PRESIDENT    WASUINGTON'S 


Report  of  the  Committee. 

The  committee  charged  to  make  such  enquiries  as  they 
might  deem  expedient  and  find  practicable  in  relation  to 
the  Valedictory  Address  of  President  Washington,  beg 
leave  to  report  — 

That  in  the  execution  of  this  duty  they  have  felt  all 
the  interest  which  the  subject  has  excited  among  so  many 
of  our  fellow-citizens.  Although  the  merits  of  this  illus- 
trious man  would  be  very  httle  impaired  by  the  discovery 
that  he  had  made  use  of  the  hand  of  another  to  reduce 
his  own  thoughts  and  reflections  to  writing,  yet  when  the 
effort  appears  to  be  to  ascribe  to  some  other  the  merit  of 
these  thoughts  and  the  sense  of  the  utility  of  their  pub- 
lication, and  thus  to  render  George  Washington  a  mere 
secondary  character,  a  warmth  of  feehng  among  those 
who  loved  and  revered  him  has  been  unavoidably  excited, 
and  may  be  reasonably  excused. 

The  committee  have  troubled  Mr.  Jay,  Chief  Justice 
Marshall,  Judge  Peters,  and  Judge  Washington,  with 
enquiries.  The  answers  which  have  been  kindly  returned, 
with  permission  to  make  them  public,  must  remove  all 
doubts  on  the  subject.     The  facts  stated  in  Mr.  Jay's 

The  original  manuscript  of  the  "  Farewell  Address  "  was  upon  Mr. 
Claypoole's  death  sold  at  auction,  in  Philadelphia,  by  his  representa- 
tives, and  purchased  by  Mr.  James  Lenox,  of  New  York,  who  printed 
an  edition  of  a  limited  number  of  copies  for  private  distribution, 
following  the  text  as  hitherto  published,  but  noting  from  the  manu- 
script the  alterations  and  corrections  of  the  illustrious  author. — 
Editor. 


VALEDICTORY    ADDRESS.  243 

letter  to  Judge  Peters  well  account  for  the  mistake  which 
has  accompanied  this  question.  The  whole  address 
appears  to  have  been  copied  by  General  Hamilton,  whose 
aiFectionate  attachment  to  the  President  prevented  him 
from  thinking  any  trouble  on  his  account  too  great ;  and 
this  copy  having,  we  know  not  how,  returned  to  his  pos- 
session, was  probably  the  cause  of  the  opinion  that  he 
was  the  original  author.  His  unexpected  and  lamented 
death  prevents  that  personal  denial  of  his  asserted  agenc}^ 
which  we  should  undoubtedly  have  received  if  the  report 
had  been  circulated  during  his  lifetime.  The  national 
loss  sustained  in  regard  to  both  is  sufficiently  heavy.  It 
requires  not  to  be  rendered  more  distressing  by  attempts 
to  convict  one  of  intellectual  deficiency,  and  the  other  of 
confidence  betrayed. 

The  certificate  from  Mr.  Claypoole,  with  the  short  con- 
firmatory note  of  the  President  of  this  Society,  will  not, 
it  is  conceived,  be  improper  additions  to  the  publication 
of  the  foregoing  letters. 

W.  EAWLE, 
BENJ'N  E.  MOEGAN, 
C.  J.  INGEESOLL. 


Letter  from  the  Committee. 
Sir, 

The  interest  which  has  lately  been  taken  by  so  many 
in  the  question  whether  the  Valedictory  Address  of  the 
venerable  Washington  was  his   own  composition  or  the 


244  PRESIDENT   Washington's 

work  ol"  another,  has  extended  to  the  Historical  Society 
of  Pennsylvania,  which  has  appointed  us  to  make  enquiries 
on  the  subject. 

We  take  the  liberty  of  applying,  among  others,  to  you, 
sir,  and  request  you  to  favor  us  with  any  information  in 
your  possession  not  improper  for  publication. 
We  are,  &c. 
(Signed),  W.  RAWLE, 

BENJAMIN   R.  MORGAN, 
CHARLES  J.  INGERSOLL. 

PUlada,  Feb.  10,  1826. 


A  copy  of  the  above  was  addressed  to  Judge  Washington,  Judge 
Peters,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  John  Jay,  Esq.,  and  Rufus 
King,  Esq. 

The  following  answers  have  been  received.  The  indisposition  of 
Mr.  King  has  probably  been  the  cause  of  no  answer  being  returned 
by  him. 

Washington,  Feb.  23,  1826. 
Gentlemen, 

In  answer  to  your  letter,  requesting  such  information 
on  the  subject  of  the  Valedictory  Address  which  was 
pubhshed  in  1796,  with  the  signature  of  George  Wash- 
ington, as  it  may  be  in  my  power  to  give,  I  beg  leave  to 
state  that  the  papers  bequeathed  to  me,  so  far  as  I  have 
examined  them,  afford  no  ground  whatever  for  attributing 
the  composition  of  that  paper  to  any  other  than  the 
person  whose  signature  it  bears.  I  have  heard  that  a 
claim  to  the  authorship  of  it,  by  another  person,  has  been 


VALEDICTORY    ADDRESS.  245 

asserted,  but  I  am  unacquainted  with  the  precise  ground 
upon  which  it  is  founded. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  gentlemen, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

BUSH.  WASHINGTON. 


Washington,  Feb.  22d,  1826. 
Gentlemen, 

I  have  been  honored  with  your  letter  of  the  15  th  inst., 

enquiring  whether  I  have  any  materials  to  furnish,  or 

testimony  to  afford,  respecting  the  Valedictory  Address 

of  General  Washington,  or  the  doubts  which  have  been 

raised  on  the  subject  of  its  authorship. 

I  have  no  information  on  the  claims  which  have  been 

made  for  others  to  the  composition  of  this  address,  nor  do 

I  know  anything,  except  from  public  report,  which  is  not 

in  the  correspondence  that  was  placed  in  my  hands.     I 

have  seen  nothing  there  to  induce  a  suspicion  that  it  was 

written  by  any  other  than  its  avowed  author. 

With  great  respect, 

I  am,  gentlemen,  your  obedient, 

J.  MARSHALL. 


Bedford,  21st  Feb.,  1826. 
Gentlemen, 

I  received  on  the  18th  of  this  month  the  letter  which 
you  were  pleased  to  address  to  me  on  the  10th  inst. 
That  letter  suggests,  that  "  the  interest  which  has  lately 


246  PRESIDENT  Washington's 

been  taken  by  so  many  in  the  question,  wlietlier  the 
Valedictory  Address  of  the  venerable  Washington  was 
his  own  composition,  or  the  work  of  another,  has  ex- 
tended to  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  which 
has  apjDointed  you  a  committee  to  make  enquiries  on  the 
subject."  You  therefore  request  that  I  will  favor  you 
"  with  any  information  in  my  possession,  not  improper  for 
publication."  To  this  request  propriety  requires  from  me 
a  candid  and  explicit  answer. 

The  first  intelligence  I  had,  relative  to  the  question  to 
which  you  allude,  was  in  the  year  1811.  In  the  course 
of  my  familiar  correspondence  with  my  worthy  and  ex- 
cellent friend.  Judge  Peters,  I  did  on  the  29th  of  March, 
1811,  write  a  letter  to  that  gentleman,  containing  certain 
remarks  and  facts  connected  with  that  question. 

I  therefore  take  the  liberty  to  refer  you  to  Judge  Peters, 

who  will  readily  communicate  to  you  the  contents  of  that 

letter.     Permit  me  to  add,  that  should   any  copies  be 

taken,  it  is  my  desire  that  they  may  be  copies  of  the 

tchole,  and  not  merely  of  parts  of  the  letter. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  gentlemen, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  JAY. 
"W.  Rawle,  ^ 

Benjamin  E.  Morgan,  I  Esquires, 
C.  J.  Ingersoll,  J 

Committee  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


VALEDICTORY     ADDRESS.  247 


Belmont,  Feb.  19,  1826. 
Mt  Dear  Sir, 

I  thought  it  most  prudent  to  avoid  encountering  the 
bad  weather  to-day,  and  have  ordered  the  Court  to  be 
adjourned  to  Friday  by  the  Marshal. 

I  will  innnediately  write  to  my  friend  Jay,  and  inform 
him  of  your  request  in  relation  to  his  letters  respecting 
General  Washington's  Farewell  Address.  I  cannot  deliver 
his  letters  to  any  one  without  his  permission. 

It  is  a  strange  pursuit  in  Hamilton's  family,  thus  to 
give  trouble  to  everybody  who  regards  the  fame  of  either 
the  General  or  Col.  H.  himself.  If  he  had  written  the 
Address,  it  is  perfidy  to  betray  the  confidence  reposed  in 
him.  But  as  he  did  not,  it  is  wrong  in  his  family  to 
assert  his  having  done  it.  In  either  case  his  descendants 
would  gain  no  reputation ;  but  our  nation  would  suffer  a 
serious  injury,  by  ha^dng  the  fascinating  name  of  Wash- 
ington taken  from  the  creed  of  every  friend  to  his 
country. 

Yours,  most  affectionately, 

RICHARD  PETERS. 
W.  Rawle,  Esq. 


Bedford,  West-Chester  County,  N.  York, 
M  March,  1826. 
My  Good  Friend, 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving,  on  Saturday  last,  your 
letter  of  the  21st  of  February.     It  gratified  me  to  learn 


248  PRESIDENT    WASHINGTON'S 

from  it,  that  you  was  in  excellent  health,  and  I  hope  that 
a  kind  Providence  will  continue  to  promote  your  pros- 
perity. 

The  communications  which  had  occurred  between  you 
and  the  committee  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsyl- 
vania were  interesting.  In  a  letter  from  them  of  the 
10th  ult.  they  expressed  a  desire  to  obtain  from  me  any 
information  in  my  possession,  not  improper  for  publica- 
tion. I  answered  it  on  the  24th,  and  referred  to  the 
contents  of  my  letter  to  you  of  the  24  th  of  March,  1811. 
Should  any  copies  be  taken,  I  hope  they  will  be  taken  in 
the  whole,  and  not  of  only  parts  of  that  letter.  As  to 
publication,  you  and  those  gentlemen  can,  with  more 
facility  than  I  can,  consider  and  conclude  on  that  head. 

I  regret  leaving  so  much  blank  paper  in  this  letter, 
but  so  it  is  —  from  early  in  the  summer  to  this  time,  my 
long-continued  sickness  and  debility  have  become  so  in- 
creased that  writing  soon  produces  weariness.  I  cannot, 
however,  forbear  adding  my  assurances  of  the  constant 
esteem,  regard  and  attachment,  with  which  I  am, 
Dear  sir, 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

JOHN  JAY. 

The  Hon.  Richard  Peters,  Esq. 


VALEDICTORY     ADDRESS.  249 

(COPY.) 

Bedford,  March  2dth,  1811. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  14th  ult.,  and  also 
the  book  on  Plaister  of  Paris,  which  you  was  so  obliging 
as  to  send  me,  and  for  which  accept  my  thanks. 

Your  letter  conveyed  to  me  the  first  and  only  informa- 
tion I  have  received  that  a  copy  of  President  Washing- 
ton's Valedictory  Address  had  been  found  among  the 
papers  of  General  Hamilton,  and  in  7iis  handwriting ;  and 
that  a  certain  gentleman  had  also  a  copy  of  it,  in  the 
sa772e  handwriting. 

This  intelligence  is  unpleasant  and  unexpected.  Had 
the  address  been  one  of  those  official  papers  which,  in  the 
course  of  affairs,  the  Secretary  of  the  proper  department 
might  have  prepared,  and  the  President  have  signed, 
these  facts  would  have  been  unimportant;  but  it  was  a 
personal  act,  of  choice,  not  of  official  duty,  and  it  was  so 
connected  with  other  obvious  considerations  as  that  he 
only  could  with  propriety  write  it.  In  my  opinion,  Presi- 
dent Washington  must  have  been  sensible  of  this  pro- 
priety, and  therefore  strong  evidence  would  be  necessary 
to  make  me  believe  that  he  \'iolated  it.  Whether  he  did 
or  did  not,  is  a  question  which  naturally  directs  our  at- 
tention to  whatever  affords  jDresumptive  evidence  respects 
ing  it,  and  leads  the  mind  into  a  long  train  of  correspond- 
ent reflections.  I  will  give  you  a  summary  of  those 
which  have  occurred  to  me ;  not  because  I  think  them 


250  PRESIDENT   Washington's 

necessary  to  settle  the  point  in  question,  for  the  sequel 
will  show  that  they  are  not,  but  because  the  occasion 
invites  me  to  take  the  pleasure  of  reviewing  and  bearing 
testimony  to  the  merits  of  our  departed  friend. 

Is  it  to  be  presumed  from  these  facts  that  General 
Hamilton  was  the  redly  and  the  President  only  the  reputed 
author  of  that  address  ?  Although  they  countenance  such 
a  presumption,  yet  I  think  its  foundation  will  be  found 
too  slight  and  shallow  to  resist  that  strong  and  full 
stream  of  counter-evidence  which  flows  from  the  conduct 
and  character  of  that  great  man :  a  character  not  blown 
up  into  transient  splendor  by  the  breath  of  adulation,  but 
which,  being  composed  of  his  great  and  memorable  deeds, 
stands,  and  will  forever  stand,  a  glorious  monument  of 
human  excellence. 

So  prone,  however,  is  "  poor  human  nature"  to  disUke 
and  depreciate  the  superiority  of  its  cotemporaries,  that 
when  these  facts  come  to  be  generally  known  (and  gene- 
rally known  they  will  be),  many,  T^dth  affected  regret  and 
hesitation,  will  infer  and  hint  that  Washington  had  less 
greatness  of  talent  and  less  greatness  of  mind  than  his 
friends  and  admirers  ascribed  to  him.  Nor  will  the 
number  of  those  be  few,  who,  from  personal  or  party 
inducements,  will  artfully  encourage  and  diligently  en- 
deavor to  give  currency  to  such  imputations.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  are  men  of  candor  and  judgment  (and 
time  will  increase  their  number),  who,  aiming  only  at 
truth,  mil  cheerfully  trace  and  follow  its  footsteps,  and, 
on  finding,  gladly  embrace  it.  Urged  by  this  laudable 
motive,  they  will  attentively  examine  the  history  of  his 


VALEDICTORY     ADDRESS.  251 

life ;  and  in  it  tliey  will  meet  with  such  numerous  proofs  of 
his  knowledge  and  experience  of  men  and  things  in  gene- 
ral, and  of  our  national  affairs  in  particular,  as  to  silence 
all  doubts  of  his  ability  to  conceive  and  express  every 
idea  in  that  address.  A  careful  perusal  of  that  history 
will  convince  them  that  the  principles  of  pohcy  which  it 
recommends  as  rules  for  the  conduct  of  others,  are  pre- 
cisely those  by  which  he  regulated  his  own. 

There  have  been  in  the  world  but  two  systems  or 
schools  of  policy, — the  one  founded  on  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  wisdom  and  rectitude,  the  other  on  cunning  and 
its  various  artifices.  To  the  first  of  these  belonged  Wash- 
ington, and  all  the  other  worthies  of  every  country  who 
ascended  to  the  Temple  of  Honor  through  the  Temple  of 
Virtue.  The  doctrines,  maxims,  and  precepts  of  this 
school  have  been  explained  and  inculcated  by  the  ablest 
writers,  ancient  and  modern.  In  all  civihzed  countries, 
they  are  known,  though  often  neglected;  and  in  free 
States,  have  always  been  publicly  commended  and 
taught :  they  crossed  the  Atlantic  with  our  forefathers, 
and,  in  our  days  particularly,  have  not  only  engaged  the 
time  and  attention  of  students,  but  have  been  constantly 
and  eloquently  displayed  by  able  men  in  our  Senates  and 
Assemblies.  What  reason  can  there  be  to  suppose  that 
Washington  did  not  understand  those  subjects  ?  K  it  be 
asked  what  these  subjects  comprehend  or  relate  to,  the 
answer  is  this, — they  relate  to  the  nature  and  duties  of 
man,  to  his  propensities  and  passions,  his  virtues  and 
vices,  his  habits  and  prejudices,  his  real  and  relative 
wants  'and   enjoyments,   his   capacities    for    social    and 


252  1' RESIDENT     WASUINGTON'S 

natioiical  happiness,  and  the  means  by  which,  according 
to  time,  place,  and  other  existing  circumstances,  it  is  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree  to  be  procured,  preserved,  and  in- 
creased. From  a  profound  investigation  of  these  subjects, 
enlightened  by  experience,  result  all  that  knowledge  and 
those  maxims  and  precepts  of  sound  policy  which  enable 
legislators  and  rulers  to  manage  and  govern  pu]:)lic  affairs 
■wisely  and  justly. 

By  what  other  means  than  the  practical  use  of  this 
knowledge,  could  Washington  have  been  able  to  lead  and 
govern  an  army  hastily  collected  from  various  parts,  and 
who  brought  with  them  to  the  field  all  the  license  and  all 
the  habits  which  they  had  indulged  at  home  ?  Could  he, 
by  the  force  of  orders  and  proclamations,  have  constrained 
them  to  render  to  him  that  obedience,  confidence,  and 
warm  attachment  which  he  soon  acquired,  and  which, 
throughout  all  vicissitudes  and  distresses,  continued  con- 
stant and  undiminished  to  the  last?  By  what  other 
means  could  he  have  been  able  to  frustrate  the  designs 
of  dark  cabals,  and  the  unceasing  intrigues  of  en\dous 
competitors,  and  the  arts  of  the  opposing  enemy?  By 
what  other  means  could  he  have  been  able  in  so  masterly 
a  manner  to  meet  and  manage  all  those  perplexing  em- 
barrassments which  the  revolutionary  substitution  of  a 
new  government,  —  which  the  want  of  that  power  in 
Congress  which  they  had  not,  and  of  that  promptitude 
which  no  deliberative  body  can  have,  —  which  the 
frequent  destitution  and  constant  uncertainty  of  essen- 
tial supplies, — which  the  incompetency  of  indi^'iduals  on 
whom  much  depended,  the  perfidy  of  others,  and  the  mis- 


VALEDICTORY     ADDRESS.  253 

management  of  many,  could  not  fail  to  engender?  We 
know,  and  history  will  inform  posterity,  that,  from  the 
first  of  his  military  career,  he  had  to  meet  and  encounter 
and  surmount  a  rapid  succession  of  formidable  difficulties, 
even  down  to  the  time  when  his  country  was  enabled,  by 
the  success  of  their  arms,  to  obtain  the  honorable  peace 
which  terminated  the  war.  His  high  and  appointed 
course  being  then  finished,  he  disdained  the  intimations 
of  lawless  ambition  to  prolong  it.  He  disbanded  the 
army  under  circumstances  which  required  no  common 
degree  of  policy  or  virtue;  and  with  universal  admira- 
tion and  plaudits,  descended  joyfully  and  serenely  into 
the  shades  of  retirement.  They  who  ascribe  all  this  to 
the  guidance  and  protection  of  Providence  do  well,  but 
let  them  recollect  that  Providence  seldom  interposes  in 
human  affairs,  but  through  the  agency  of  human  means. 

When,  at  a  subsequent  and  alarming  period,  the  nation 
found  that  their  affairs  had  gone  into  confusion,  and  that 
clouds  portending  danger  and  distress  were  rising  over 
them  in  every  quarter,  they  instituted  under  his  auspices 
a  more  efficient  government,  and  unanimously  committed 
the  administration  of  it  to  him.  Would  they  have  done 
this  without  the  highest  confidence  in  his  political  talents 
and  wisdom?  Certainly  not, — no  novice  in  navigation 
was  ever  unanimously  called  upon  to  take  the  helm  or 
command  of  a  ship  on  the  point  of  running  aground 
among  the  breakers.  This  universal  confidence  would 
have  proved  a  universal  mistake,  had  it  not  been  justified 
by  the  event.  The  unanimous  opinion  entertained  and 
declared  by  a  whole  people  in  favor  of  any  fellow  citizen 


254  PRESIDENT    Washington's 

is   rarely   erroneous,  espeeiully  in   times  of  alann    and 
calamity. 

To  delineate  the  course,  and  enumerate  the  measures 
which  he  took  to  arrive  at  success,  would  be  to  write  a 
volume.  The  firmness  and  policy  with  which  he  over- 
came the  obstacles  placed  in  his  way  by  the  derangement 
of  national  affairs,  by  the  devices  of  domestic  demagogues 
and  of  foreign  agents,  as  well  as  by  the  deleterious 
influences  of  the  French  Revolution,  need  not  be  par- 
ticularized. Our  records,  and  histories,  and  memories, 
render  it  unnecessary.  It  is  sufficient  to  say,  and  it  can 
be  said  with  truth,  that  his  administration  raised  the 
nation  out  of  confusion  into  order,  out  of  degradation  and 
distress  into  reputation  and  prosperity :  it  found  us  ^vith- 
ering ;  it  left  us  flourishing. 

Is  it  to  be  believed  that,  after  having  thus  led  the 
nation  out  of  a  bewildered  state,  and  guided  them  for 
many  years  from  one  degree  of  prosperity  to  another,  he 
was  not  qualified,  on  retiring,  to  advise  them  how  to  pro- 
ceed and  go  on  ?  And  what  but  this  is  the  object  and 
the  burthen  of  his  Valedictory  Address  ?  He  was  per- 
suaded that,  as  the  national  welfare  had  been  recovered 
and  established,  so  it  could  only  be  preserved  and  prolonged 
by  a  continued  and  steady  adherence  to  those  principles 
of  sound  policy  and  impartial  justice  which  had  invari- 
ably directed  his  administration. 

Although  the  knowledge  of  them  had  been  spread  and 
scattered  among  the  people,  here  a  little,  and  there  a 
little,  yet  being  desirous  to  mark  even  the  last  day  of  his 
public  life  by  some  act  of  public  utility,  he  addressed  and 


VALEDICTORY     ADDRESS.  255 

presented  them  to  his  fellow-citizens  in  points  of  light  so 
clear  and  strong  as  to  make  deep  impressions  on  the 
public  mind.  These  last  parental  admonitions  of  this 
Father  of  his  Country  were  gratefully  received  and  uni- 
versally admired ;  but  the  experience  of  ages  informs  us, 
that  it  is  less  difficult  to  give  good  advice  than  to  prevail 
on  men  to  follow  it. 

Such,  and  so  obvious  is  the  force  of  the  preceding  con- 
siderations, as  to  render  doubts  of  the  President's  ability 
to  give  the  advice  contained  in  the  address  too  absurd  to 
have  many  serious  advocates.  But  it  would  not  surprise 
me,  if  certain  classical  gentlemen,  associating  the  facts 
you  mention  with  the  style  and  fashion  of  the  address, 
should  intimate  that  his  ability  to  compose  it  substan- 
tially in  his  mind  does  not  prove  that  he  was  also  capable 
of  communicating  his  advice  in  a  paper  so  well  written. 
Let  these  gentlemen  recollect  the  classical  maxim  which 
they  learned  at  school : 

"  Scribendi  recte,  sapere  est,  et  principium,  et  fons." 

They  may  also  be  referred  to  another  classical  maxim, 
which  teaches  us  that  they  who  well  understand  their 
subject  will  be  at  no  loss  for  words  : 

"Yerbaque  provisuui  rem  non  invita  sequcntur." 

But  his  ability  to  write  well  need  not  be  proved  by  the 
application  of  maxims,  it  is  established  by  facts. 

We  are  told  to  judge  of  a  tree  by  its  fruit ;  let  us  in 


256  PRESIDENT  Washington's 

like  manner  judge  of  liis  pen  by  its  performances.  Few 
men  who  had  so  little  leisure  have  written  so  much.  His 
jpnhlic  letters  alone  are  voluminous,  and  public  opinion 
has  done  justice  to  their  merits.  Many  of  them  have 
been  published,  and  they  who  read  them  will  be  con- 
vinced that  at  the  period  of  the  address  he  had  not  to 
learn  how  to  write  well.  But  it  may  be  remarked  that 
the  address  is  more  highly  finished  than  the  letters,  and 
80  it  ought  to  be.  That  address  was  to  be  presented  to 
the  whole  nation,  and  on  no  common  occasion ;  it  was  in- 
tended for  the  present  and  future  generations ;  it  was  to 
be  read  in  this  country  and  in  foreign  countries ;  and  to  be 
criticized  not  only  by  affectionate  friends  and  impartial 
judges,  but  also  by  envious  and  malignant  enemies.  It 
was  an  address  which,  according  as  it  should  or  should 
not  correspond  with  his  exalted  character  and  fame,  would 
either  justify  or  impeach  the  prevailing  opinion  of  his 
talents  or  wisdom.  Who,  therefore,  can  wonder  that  he 
should  bestow  more  thought,  and  time,  and  pains,  on  that 
address  than  on  a  letter  ? 

Although  in  the  habit  of  depending  ultimately  on  his 
own  judgment,  yet  no  man  was  more  solicitous  to  obtain 
and  collect  light  on  every  question  and  measure  on  which 
he  had  to  decide.  He  knew  that  authors,  like  parents, 
are  not  among  the  first  to  discover  imperfections  in  their 
offspring,  and  that  consideration  would  naturally  induce 
him  to  imitate  the  example  of  those  ancient  and  modem 
writers  (among  whom  were  statesmen,  generals,  and  even 
men  of  consular  and  royal  dignity),  who  submitted  their 
compositions  to  the  judgment  of  their  friends  before  they 


VALEDICTORY    ADDRESS.  257 

put  the  last  hand  to  them.  Those  friends  would  make 
notes  of  whatever  defects  they  observed  in  the  draft,  and 
of  the  correspondent  amendments  which  they  deemed 
proper.  If  they  found  that  the  arrangement  would  be 
improved,  they  would  ad%dse  certain  transpositions;  if 
the  connection  between  any  of  the  relative  parts  was 
obscure,  they  would  make  it  more  apparent;  if  a  con- 
clusion had  better  be  left  to  implication  than  expressed, 
they  would  strike  it  out,  and  so  vice  versa,  if  an  additional 
remark  or  allusion  would  give  force  or  light  to  a  senti- 
ment or  proposition,  they  would  propose  it;  where  a 
sentence  was  too  long,  they  would  divide  it ;  they  would 
correct  redundancies,  change  words  less  apt  for  words 
more  apt,  &c.  &c.  &c.  To  correct  a  composition  in  this 
way  is  to  do  a  friendly  office,  but  to  prepare  a  new  one, 
and  offer  it  to  the  author  as  a  substitute  for  his  own, 
would  deserve  a  different  appellation. 

Among  those  to  whose  judgment  and  candor  President 
Washington  would  commit  such  an  interesting  and  deli- 
cate task,  where  is  the  man  to  be  found  who  would  have 
had  the  hardihood  to  say  to  him  in  substance,  though  in 
terms  ever  so  nice  and  courtly :  "  Sir,  I  have  examined 
and  considered  your  draft  of  an  address  —  it  will  not  do, 
it  is  really  good  for  nothing,  but,  sir,  I  have  taken  the 
trouble  to  write  a  proper  one  for  you,  and  I  now  make 
you  a  present  of  it.  I  advise  you  to  adopt  it,  and  to  pass 
it  on  the  world  as  your  own ;  the  cheat  will  never  be  dis- 
covered, for  you  may  depend  on  my  secrecy.  Sir,  I  have 
inserted  in  it  a  paragraph  that  will  give  the  pubhc  a  good 

17 


258  PRESIDENT    WASHINGTON'S 

opinion  of  your  modesty.  I  will  read  it  to  you  j  it  is  in 
these  words : 

" '  In  the  discharge  of  this  trust  I  will  only  say,  that  I 
have  with  good  intentions  contributed  towards  the  organ- 
ization and  administration  of  the  government,  the  best 
exertions  of  which  a  very  fallible  judgment  was  capable. 
Not  unconscious  in  the  outset  of  the  inferiority  of  my 
qualifications,  experience  in  my  own  eyes,  perhaps  still 
more  in  the  eyes  of  others,  has  strengthened  the  motives 
to  diffidence  of  myself.'" 

If  it  be  possible  to  find  a  man  among  those  whom  he 
esteemed  capable  of  offering  to  him  such  a  present,  it  is 
impossible  to  believe  that  President  Washington  was  the 
man  to  whom  such  a  present  would  have  been  acceptable. 
They  who  knew  President  Washington  and  his  various 
endo\vments,  qualifications  and  virtues,  know  that  (aggre- 
gately considered)  they  formed  a  tout  ensemble  which  has 
rarely  been  equalled,  and  perhaps  never  excelled. 

Thus  much  for  presumptive  evidence,  I  will  now  turn 
your  attention  to  some  that  is  direct. 

The  history  (if  it  may  be  so  called)  of  the  address  is 
not  unknown  to  me ;  but  as  I  came  to  the  knowledge  of 
it  under  implied  confidence,  I  doubted,  when  I  first  re- 
ceived your  letter,  whether  I  ought  to  disclose  it.  On 
more  mature  reflection  I  became  convinced  that  if  Presi- 
dent Washington  were  now  alive,  and  informed  of  the 
facts  in  question,  he  would  not  only  authorize,  but  also 
desire  me  to  reduce  it  to  writing ;  that  when  necessary  it 
might  be  used  to  invalidate  the  imputations  to  which 
those  facts  give  color. 


VALEDICTORY    ADDRESS.  259 

This  consideration  terminated  my  doubts.  I  do  not 
think  that  a  disclosure  is  necessary  at  this  moment,  but  I 
fear  such  a  moment  will  arrive.  Whether  I  shall  then 
be  alive,  or  in  capacity  to  give  testimony  is  so  uncertain, 
that  in  order  to  avoid  the  risque  of  either,  I  shall  now 
reduce  it  to  writing,  and  commit  it  to  your  care  and  dis- 
cretion, "  De  bene  esse,"  as  the  lawyers  say. 

Some  time  before  the  address  appeared,  Colonel  (after- 
wards General)  Hamilton  informed  me  that  he  had  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  President  Washington,  and  with  it 
the  draft  of  a  Farewell  Address,  which  the  President  had 
prepared,  and  on  which  he  requested  our  opinion.  He 
then  proposed  that  we  should  fix  on  a  day  for  an  inter- 
view at  my  house  on  the  subject.  A  day  was  accordingly 
appointed,  and  on  that  day  Col.  Hamilton  attended.  He 
observed  to  me  in  words  to  this  effect,  that  after  having 
read  and  examined  the  draft,  it  appeared  to  him  to  be 
susceptible  of  improvement.  That  he  thought  the  easiest 
and  best  way  was  to  leave  the  draft  untouched,  and  in  its 
fair  state ;  and  to  write  the  whole  over  with  such  amend- 
ments, alterations,  and  corrections  as  he  thought  were 
advisable,  and  that  he  had  done  so ;  he  then  proposed  to 
read  it,  and  to  make  it  the  subject  of  our  consideration. 
This  being  agreed  to,  he  read  it,  and  we  proceeded 
deliberately  to  discuss  and  consider  it,  paragraph  by 
paragraph,  until  the  whole  met  with  our  mutual  appro- 
bation. Somfe  amendments  were  made  during  the  inter- 
view, but  none  of  much  importance. 

Althaugh  this  business  had  not  been  hastily  dispatched, 
yet  aware  of  the  consequence  of  such  a  paper,  I  suggested 


2G0  PRESIDENT    WASHINGTON   S 

the  giving  it  a  further  critical  examination ;  hut  he 
declined  it,  saying  he  was  pressed  for  time,  and  was 
anxious  to  return  the  draft  to  the  President  without 
delay. 

It  afterwards  occurred  to  me  that  a  certain  proposition 
was  expressed  in  terms  too  general  and  unqualified;  and 
I  hinted  it  in  a  letter  to  the  President.     As  the  business 
took  the  course  above  mentioned,  a  recurrence  to  the 
draft  was  unnecessary,  and  it  was  not  read.     There  was 
this  advantage  in  the  course  pursued;  the  President's 
draft  remained  (as  delicacy  required)  fair  and  not  obscured 
by  interlineations,  &c.     By  comparing  it  with  the  paper 
sent  with  it,  he  would  immediately  observe  the  particular 
emendations   and   corrections   that  were   proposed,   and 
would  find  them  standing  in  their  intended  places.    Hence 
he  was  enabled  to  review,  and  to  decide  on  the  whole 
matter,  with  much  greater  clearness  and  facility  than  if 
he  had  received  them  in  separate  and  detached  notes,  and 
with  detailed  references  to  the  pages  and  lines,  where 
they  were  advised  to  be  introduced. 
With  great  esteem  and  regard, 
I  am,  dear  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  JAY. 

The  Honorable  Richard  Peters,  Esq. 


VALEDICTORY    ADDRESS.  261 


EXTRACT   OF   A  LETTER  FROM 
JUDGE   PETERS   TO  MR.  RAWLE. 

Belmont,  Feb.  2Qth,  1826. 

"At  the  head  of  my  obituary  list  stands  our  venerated 
and  beloved  chief,  who  was  always  particularly  communi- 
cative with  me.  I  am  certain  that,  in  conversations,  I 
have  heard  from  his  own  lips,  most,  if  not  all,  the  lead- 
ing sentiments  expressed  in  the  Farewell  Address ;  though 
I  do  not  recollect  any  special  discussion  on  the  subject.  I 
did  understand  at  the  time  that  he  had  submitted  his 
draft  to  some  friends,  but  had  not  the  exact  information 
which  Mr.  Jay  developes.  In  my  official  capacity,  during 
the  revolution,  I  have  received  many  letters  from  the 
General,  written  by  members  of  his  family  and  signed  by 
him.  But  these  were  all  about  the  routine  business  of 
the  department.  Whenever  there  was  anything  of  special 
confidence,  he  wrote  the  whole.  With  Col.  Hamilton  I 
have  often  conversed  on  the  flying  stories  of  the  day,  as 
to  the  great  assistance  he  received  from  his  family  in 
composition  of  letters,  papers,  &c.  Col.  H.  always  scouted 
the  idea  of  their  doing  more  than  taking  off  the  laborious 
drudgery  of  current  business,  and  always  gave  the 
General  the  merit  of  being  the  unassisted  writer  of  im- 
portant compositions  and  correspondence." 


262  PRESIDENT  Washington's 


Tho  committee  subsequently  addressed  the  following  letter  to 
Nicholas  Fish,  Esq.,  of  New  York. 

Sir, 

Having  been  appointed  by  the  Historical  Society  of 
Pennsylvania  a  committee  to  collect  and  report  to  them 
such  evidence  as  may  be  attainable  in  respect  to  the 
original  author  of  the  Valedictory  Address  of  President 
Washington  in  1796,  we  have  made  several  enquiries  on 
the  subject. 

We  now  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  as  the  sur- 
viving executor  of  General  Hamilton,  and  probably  in 
possession  of  most  of  his  papers.  It  has  been  supposed 
by  some,  that  the  address  was  originally  composed  by 
General  Hamilton.  Our  impressions  from  all  the  inform- 
ation that  we  have  been  able  to  collect  are  to  the  con- 
trary. It  appears  to  us  that  the  original  draught  was 
the  sole  work  of  the  President,  but  submitted  by  him  to 
his  friends,  Mr.  Jay  and  General  Hamilton,  for  revision. 
But  in  justice  to  the  friends  of  General  Hamilton  (and 
we  beg  you  to  consider  us  as  having  the  highest  respect 
for  his  memory),  we  should  think  it  improper  to  make  a 
report  which  will  probably  be  published  without  a  pre- 
vious enquiry  in  that  quarter,  where,  if  erroneous  im- 
pressions have  been  received,  by  us,  they  are  most  likely 
to  be  corrected. 

We  therefore  beg  the  favor  of  you,  sir,  to  communicate 
any  facts  which  you  will  think  proper  for  publication  in 
the  next  volume  of  the  memoirs  of  the  society,  tending 


YALEDICTORY     ADDRESS.  263 

to  show  that,  in  your  opinion,  this  address  was  not  the 
original  composition  of  the  President,  but  of  some  other, 
and  what  person. 

We  are,  &c., 

W.  RAWLE, 
BENJ.  R.  MORGAN, 
C.  J.  INGERSOLL. 

To  Nicholas  Fish,  Esq. 


ANSWER. 

New  Yo7'k,  May  16th,  1826. 
Gentlemen, 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
letter  of  the  6th  ultimo,  on  the  subject  of  General  Wash- 
ington's Valedictory  Address,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
offer  you  an  apology  for  having  so  long  delayed  answer- 
ing it. 

You  say  it  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  the  address 
was  originally  composed  by  General  Hamilton,  but  that 
jour  impressions,  from  all  the  information  that  you  have 
been  able  to  collect,  are  to  the  contrary,  and  that  you 
should  think  it  improj)er  to  make  a  report  which  will 
probably  be  published,  without  a  previous  enquiry  in  that 
quarter,  where,  if  erroneous  impressions  have  been  re- 
ceived by  you,  they  are  most  likely  to  be  corrected ;  that 
you  therefore  address  me,  as  the  surviving  executor  of 
General  Hamilton,  supposing  it  probable   that  I  am  in 


264  Pli  ESI  DENT     WASHINGTON'S 

possession  of  most  of  his  p.'ipors,  and  requesting  nie  to 
communicate  any  facts  I  may  think  proper  for  pubhcation 
in  the  next  volume  of  the  memoirs  of  the  society,  tending 
to  show  that  in  my  oj^inion  this  was  not  the  original  com- 
position of  President  Washington,  but  of  some  other,  and 
what  person. 

None  of  General  Hamilton's  papers  are  in  my  pos- 
session, but  some  of  his  papers  relating  to  the  subject  of 
your  enquiry  are  supposed  by  the  General's  family  to  be 
in  the  hands  of  the  Hon.  Rufus  King,  our  Minister  to 
London,  against  whom  a  suit  in  chancery  was  instituted 
previous  to  his  departure  on  his  mission,  for  the  recovery 
of  them ;  to  which  suit  I  am  pro  forma  a  party.  As  to 
my  personal  knowledge  on  this  subject,  I  freely  avow  that 
I  am  not  possessed  of  any  fact  tending  to  show  that  the 
original  draft  of  Washington's  Valedictory  Address  was 
written  by  any  other  person  than  himself. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  gentlemen, 
With  great  consideration. 
Your  obedient  servant, 

NICHOLAS  FISH. 

To  W.  Rawle,  ^ 

Benjamin  R.  Morgan,  >  Esquires, 
C.  J.  Ingersoll,  J 

Committee  appointed  by  the  Historical  Society 
of  Pennsylvania  to  collect  and  report  to  them 
such  evidence  as  may  be  attainable  in  respect 
to  the  original  author  of  the  Yaledictory  Ad- 
dress of  President  "Washington  in  1Y96. 


VALEDICTORY     ADDRESS.  265 

Having  been  requested  by  the  Historical  Society  of 
Pennsylvania  to  give  an  account  of  the  circumstances 
attending  the  first  publication  of  the  Valedictory  Address 
of  the  late  President  Washington  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  I  will  now  state  them,  as  accurately  as  my 
memory  enables  me. 

A  few  days  before  the  appearance  of  this  memorable 
document  in  print,  I  received  a  message  from  the  Presi- 
dent, by  his  private  secretary,  signifjdng  his  desire  to  see 
me.  I  waited  on  him  at  the  appointed  time,  and  found 
him  sitting  alone  in  the  drawing-room.  He  received  me 
kindly ;  and,  after  I  had  paid  my  respects  to  him,  desired 
me  to  take  a  seat  near  him, — then,  addressing  himself  to 
me,  said,  that  he  had  for  some  time  j)ast  contemplated 
retiring  from  pubUc  life,  and  had  at  length  concluded  to 
do  so  at  the  end  of  the  (then)  present  term :  that  he  had 
some  thoughts  and  reflections  on  the  occasion,  which  he 
deemed  proper  to  communicate  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  in  the  form  of  an  Address,  and  which  he  wished 
to  appear  in  the  Daily  Advertiser,  of  which  I  was  editor. 
He  paused,  and  I  took  the  opportunity  of  thanking  him 
for  having  preferred  that  paper  as  the  channel  of  his 
communication  with  the  people,  especially  as  I  viewed 
this  selection  as  indicating  his  approbation  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  manner  in  which  the  work  was  conducted. 
He  silently  assented,  and  asked  when  the  publication 
could  be  made.  I  answered,  that  the  time  should  be 
made  perfectly  convenient  to  himself,  and  the  following 
Monday  was  fixed  on  :  he  then  told  me  that  his  secretary 


200  PRESIDENT     WASHINGTON'S 

Avoiild  call  oil  iiic  witli  .'i  copy  of  tlie  Address  on  the  next 
(Friday)  morninf^,  and  I  "witlidrcw. 

Aflor  tlio  jn-oof  shrrf  lind  been  compared  with  the  copy, 
and  corrected  by  myself,  I  carried  anotlier  py-oq/,  and  tlien 
a  revise,  to  be  examined  by  the  President,  who  made  but 
few  alterations  from  the  original,  except  in  the  punctua- 
tion, in  which  he  was  very  minute. 

The  publication  of  the  Address,  dated  "  United  States, 
September  ITtli,  1796,"  being  completed  on  the  19th,  I 
waited  on  the  President  with  the  original ;  and,  in  pre- 
senting it  to  him,  expressed  my  regret  at  parting  with  it, 
and  how  much  I  should  be  gratified  by  being  permitted 
to  retain  it :  upon  which,  in  an  obliging  manner,  he 
handed  it  back  to  me,  saying  that  if  I  wished  for  it,  I 
might  keep  it ;  and  I  then  took  my  leave  of  him. 

Any  person  acquainted  with  the  handwriting  of  Presi- 
dent Washington,  would,  on  seeing  this  specimen,  at  once 
recognize  it.  And,  as  I  had  formerly  been  honored  by 
written  communications  from  him  on  public  business,  I 
may  say  that  his  handwriting  was  familiar  to  me ;  and  I 
think  I  could  at  any  time  and  without  hesitation  identify 
it.  The  manuscript  copy  consists  of  thirty-two  pages  of 
quarto  letter  paper,  sewed  together  as  a  book,  and  ^dth 
many  alterations ;  as,  in  some  places,  whole  paragraphs 
are  erased  and  others  substituted,  in  others  many  lines 
struck  out,  in  others  sentences  and  words  erased,  and 
others  interlined  in  their  stead.  The  tenth,  eleventh, 
and  sixteenth  pages  are  almost  entirely  expunged,  saving 
only  a  few  lines ;  and  one-half  of  the  thirty-first  page  is 
also  effaced.     A  critical  examination  will  show  that  the 


VALEDICTORY     ADDRESS.  267 

whole,  from  first  to  last,  with  all  its  numerous  corrections, 
was  the  work  of  the  same  hand;  and  I  can  confidently 
affirm,  that  no  other  pen  ever  touched  the  manuscript, 
now  in  my  possession,  than  that  of  the  great  and  good 
man  whose  signature  it  bears. 

D.  C.  CLAYPOOLE. 
PliiladelpMa,  Fehrmiry  22d,  1826. 


To  the  foregoing  statement  of  Mr.  ClajqDoole  (whose 
fair  and  honorable  character  is  well  established  anions 
us),  I  think  it  not  improper  to  add,  that  I  have  carefully 
examined  the  manuscript  from  beginning  to  end ;  and 
being  well  acquainted  with  the  handwriting  of  this 
eminent  personage,  I  am  entirely  satisfied  that  there  is 
not  a  word  in  the  text  written  by  any  other  than  himself 
I  had  a  doubt  only  as  to  the  date,  which  did  not,  as  it 
appeared  to  me,  exactly  correspond  with  the  rest,  but  on 
further  examination,  I  am  induced  to  think  that  it  is  all 
in  the  same  writing;  in  which  opinion,  Mr.  Claypoole 
fully  coincides.  At  all  events,  I  am  perfectly  satisfied 
that  it  is  not  in  the  handwriting  of  General  Hamilton, 
with  which  I  am  also  well  acquainted.  The  date  may 
have  possibly  been  by  the  private  Secretary  of  the 
President. 

W.  EAWLE. 

Feh.  22d,  1826. 


\ 


2G8  VINDICATION     OF 


A  VINDICATION  OF  TJIE  REV.  MR.  HECKEWELDER'S* 
HISTORY  OF  THE  INDIAN  NATIONS. 

BY  WILLIAM    RAWLE. 

l^Read  at  a  Meeting  of  the  Council,  on  the  15th  day  of  February,  1826.] 

"When  a  literary  work  has  been  in  possession  of  public 
confidence  for  years ;  when  the  author  is  known  to  have 
been  a  man  of  probity  incapable  of  wilful  deception ;  when 
he  is  known  to  have  had  the  best  means  of  information 
concerning  the  facts  he  relates,  and  when  these  facts  are 
of  a  character  not  too  abstruse  or  profound  for  the  com- 
pass of  his  mind,  it  is  natural  for  those  who  have  believed 
and  rehed  on  his  narration,  to  feel  an  interest  in  sup- 
porting the  reputation  of  the  author  against  unexpected 
and  unfounded  attacks. 

In  the  year  1819,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Historical 
and  Literary  Committee  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  appeared  a  work  entitled  ''An  Account  of  the 
History,  Manners,  and  Customs  of  the  Indian  Nations 
who  once  inhabited  Pennsylvania  and  the  neighboring 
States,  by  the  Rev.  John  Heckewelder,  of  Bethlehem." 

Mr.  Heckewelder  was  of  German  descent.  He  was  a 
faithful  and  zealous  member  of  the  Moravian  Brother- 
hood  at   Bethlehem,   in   this    State ;    and   under    their 

*  A  Life  of  John  Heckewelder,  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Rondthaler, 
edited  by  B.  H.  Coates,  M.D.,  was  published  iu  1S41. — Editor. 


heckewelder's   history,  269 

direction,  he  exposed  himself  for  the  greatest  part  of  his 
life  to  the  hardships  and  the  perils  of  a  residence  among 
the  Lenapi  or  Delaware  Indians,  in  an  unremitted 
endeavor  to  convert  them  to  Christianity. 

lie  was  well  known  in  Philadelphia,  which,  after  his 
age  and  infirmities,  combined  with  other  circumstances, 
compelled  him  to  relinquish  the  mission,  he  occasionally 
visited.  With  Doctor  Wistar,  who  was  also  of  German 
extraction,  he  was  particularly  intimate;  but  he  was 
known  to  almost  all  the  men  of  letters  in  our  city,  and 
respected  by  them  all.  In  his  demeanor,  he  was  modest 
and  unassuming.  From  his  long  residence  among  the 
Indians,  he  seemed  to  have  imbibed  something  of  their 
manners :  courteous  and  easy  in  his  intercourse  with 
every  one,  a  stranger  to  all  affectation  and  artificial  cere- 
mony, somewhat  inclined  to  taciturnity,  or  at  least  never 
obtruding  himself  on  the  notice  of  others,  or  seeking  to 
lead  the  conversation,  those  who  personally  knew  him 
were  the  more  inclined  to  give  credit  to  his  book ;  and 
those  who  read  his  book  before  they  personally  knew 
him,  found  that  the  man  corresponded  with  the  character 
of  which  the  book  gave  them  the  idea. 

The  work  was  received  with  general  approbation.  It 
was  evidently  written  to  support  no  party,  to  explain  no 
peculiar  system,  to  promote  no  personal  views :  he  had 
formed  the  narrative  for  his  own  private  amusement  or 
use,  and  his  consent  to  appear  as  an  author,  both  of  this 
and  of  a  subsequent  publication,  was  not  given  without 
reluctance. 

He  presented  to  us  some  new  views  of  the   Indian 


270  VINDICATION     OP 

character.  He  impressed  us  with  the  belief  that  these 
people  "were  still  more  acute,  more  politic,  and,  in  some 
respects,  more  refined,  than  had  been  generally  under- 
stood. 

But  the  whole  account  of  them  was  conveyed  in  a 
manner  so  plain  and  unaffected,  with  sucli  evident 
candor  and  apparent  accuracy,  that  conviction  generally 
if  not  universally  followed  perusal.  To  enumerate  all 
those  persons  on  whom  this  impression  was  made  would 
be  tedious.  It  would  not,  perhaps,  be  deemed  fair  to 
mention  names,  however  respectable,  from  whom  only 
colloquial  testimony  has  been  received;  but  when  we 
find  in  print  such  authorities  as  Wistar,  Duponceau,  and 
Dr.  Jarvis,  of  New  York,  all  of  one  sentiment  in  regard 
to  it,  we  may  justly  consider  him  as  proudly  supported. 
To  these  we  add  the  North  American  Review,  the  anony- 
mous authors  of  which,  as  those  of  all  similar  works,  stand 
before  the  pubhc  on  the  ground  of  their  o"s^ti  strength  of 
mind,  soundness  of  judgment,  and  purity  of  taste.  Under- 
taking to  instruct  the  world  as  to  the  reception  which  it 
ought  to  afford  to  the  labors  of  others,  they  are,  as  they 
ought  to  be,  cautious  in  bestowing  commendation,  and  a 
work  highly  extolled  must  be  understood  to  have  been 
thoroughly  examined  and  fully  approved. 

The  encomiastic  strains  emploj-ed  by  these  gentlemen 
on  the  work  in  question,  were  not  bej'ond  its  merits,  but 
they  were  certainly  warm. 

After  giving  an  analysis  and  various  extracts,  the 
Reviewers  proceeded  as  follows : 

"  The  work  abounds  in  facts  and  anecdotes  calculated, 


heckewelder's   history.  271 

not  merely  to  entertain  the  reader,  but  to  lay  open,  in 
the  most  authentic  and  satisfactory  manner,  the  character 
and  condition  of  this  people.  There  is  no  other  worlz 
extant,  in  which  this  design  has  been  so  extensively 
adapted,  or  in  which  the  object  is  so  fully  accomplished ^ 

With  these  testimonials,  the  work  of  Heckewelder  has 
glided  down  the  historical  current  of  time  without  any 
impeachment  of  its  merits,  till  its  author  has  been  re- 
moved to  a  world  from  which  he  can  wield  no  weapon  of 
defence  against  sublunary  criticism. 

Were  he  still  living,  he  would  read  with  surprise  the 
altered  language  of  the  same  literary  dictators,  the  same 
guides  and  directors  of  our  taste  and  judgment,  our  appro- 
bation or  rejection. 

The  unqualified  condemnation,  in  1826,  of  a  work  so 
highly  extolled  in  1819,  would  be  productive  of  httle 
other  injury  than  that  which  the  authors  of  the  Review 
would  sustain  by  the  diminution  of  their  own  authority 
from  the  exhibition  of  their  own  inconsistency ;  but  mul- 
titudes will  read  the  Review  of  the  present  year  to  whom 
that  of  1819  is,  and  perhaps  ever  will  be,  unknown.  The 
American  public  will,  perhaps,  be  considered  by  them  as 
the  credulous  subjects  of  gross  imposition,  and  perhaps 
the  name  of  John  Heckewelder  be  ranged  with  that  of 
John  D.  Hunter. 

It  will  not,  therefore,  be  improper  in  one  who  knew 
and  esteemed  Mr.  Heckewelder  when  Uving,  and  with 
unabated  confidence  still  highly  values  his  work,  to  take 
a  short  view  of  the  late  attempt  to  strip  him  of  his 
fame. 


272  VINDICATION     OF 

111  the  North,  American  Ilcviciv  for  January  last  is  a  long 
and  labored  article,  under  the  general  head  of  "  Indians 
of  North  America,"  and  the  two  works,  the  titles  of  which 
are,  in  the  usual  manner,  prefixed,  are  Hunter's  book,  pub- 
lished here  about  two  years  ago,  and  a  recent  composition 
of  a  Mr.  Halkett,  in  London.  On  the  latter,  very  little 
attention  is  bestowed :  Hunter's  imposition  is  exposed,  as 
it  seems  to  deserve.  But  Mr.  Ilecke welder's  work, 
although  the  reader  is  not  led,  from  the  title  of  the 
article,  to  expect  it  will  be  noticed  at  all,  forms  the  chief 
subject  of  much  positive  contradiction  and  much  severe 
animadversion,  although,  at  the  same  time,  the  Keviewers 
refer,  without  explanation  or  apology,  to  their  own  lauda- 
tory notices  in  1819. 

Heckewelder  is  now  represented  as  a  man  of  "moderate 
intellect,  and  still  more  moderate  attainments."  We  are 
told  that  his  knowledge  of  the  Indian  character  was 
wholly  derived  from  the  Delawares ;  that  their  legendary 
stories  were  received  by  him  in  perfect  good  faith,  and 
"  recorded  with  all  the  gravity  of  history." 

"His  naivete^''  is  said  to  be  "truly  amusing;  j-et,  with 
much  valuable  information,  no  work  that  has  appeared 
for  half  a  century,  has  produced  more  erroneous  impres- 
sions on  this  subject.  He  looks  back  to  a  sort  of  golden 
age  of  the  Delawares.  It  may  have  been  so,  but  there  is 
not  the  slightest  reason  to  believe  it. 

"Many  of  his  assertions  and  conclusions  are  utterly 
irreconcilable  with  the  most  authentic  accounts  and  with 
well-known  circumstances.  His  history,  if  true,  would 
unhinge  all  our  knowledge  on  these  subjects,  and  destroy 


heckewelder's   history.  273 

all  our  confidence  in  the  early  French  writers,  who  wrote 
under  favorable  circumstances  for  observation." 

This  is  but  a  part  of  the  remarks  which  are  made  in 
the  usual  positive  manner  of  Eeviewers,  exercising  their 
supposed  unlimited  sovereignty  over  what  we  sometimes 
affect  to  call  the  republic  of  letters. 

It  is  obvious  that  if  this  is  the  genuine  character  of 
Mr.  Heckewelder's  work,  we  have  been  greatly  imposed 
on ;  and  if  all  our  knowledge  is  "  unhinged"  by  his  faulty 
productions,  the  world  cannot  be  too  soon  informed  of  its 
error.  But  general  assertions  will  not  always  produce 
conviction,  —  and  we  naturally  expect  that  specific 
examples,  supported  by  reasonable  proof,  shall  be  ad- 
duced, before  we  withdraw  our  reliance  on  a  work  which 
has  so  long  been  received  as  credible  and  authentic. 

It  is  indeed  the  more  necessary  when  the  opponent 
himself  falls  into  a  looseness  of  expression  which  is  no- 
where exceeded  by  him  whom  he  condemns,  and  when 
he  weakens  or  destroys  his  own  argument  by  the  illustra- 
tion with  which  he  endeavors  to  support  it.  Thus,  in 
the  last  paragraph  quoted,  the  Reviewers  at  first  general- 
ize, then  connect  their  observation  with  a  particular  case, 
and  afterwards  show  that  this  illustration  of  it  is  of  no 
value. 

We  had  previously  been  told,  in  the  same  article,  that 
an  actual  residence  among  the  Indians  was  the  only 
means  of  obtaining  a  competent  knoAvledge  of  their  char- 
acter. Mr.  Heckewelder's  long  residence  among  them  is 
distinctly  noticed,  and  of  course  he  had  the  power  of 
obtaining  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  them  than  could 

18 


274  VINDICATION     OF 

be  acquired  by  casual  travellers.  If  their  accounts  differ 
from  his,  there  is  therefore  no  reason  for  giving  the  pre- 
ference to  them;  and  the  Reviewers  seem  particularly 
injudicious  in  proceeding  to  mention  the  name  of  Xa 
Hontan,  whom,  at  the  same  time,  they  described  as  un- 
worthy of  credit,  and  of  course  as  rendering  it  no  loss  to 
us  if  his  "  fables"  should  be  superseded  by  the  plain  nar- 
rative of  Ileckewelder.  In  another  place,  they  condemn 
the  early  and  principal  French  writers  in  a  mass,  except- 
ing only  Charlevoix.  We  are  told  that  they  were  "  credu- 
lous men,  who  possessed  neither  enlarged  views  nor  sound 
judgment." 

The  Reviewers  proceed  to  consider  some  of  the  most 
"prominent  errors"  of  our  venerable  author;  and  they 
deserve  our  thanks  for  enabling  us  thus  to  examine  those 
imputations  which,  while  wrapped  up  in  general  terms,  it 
would  not  be  in  our  power  to  understand  or  refute. 

In  the  consideration  of  them,  the  order  in  which  they 
are  presented  will,  as  much  as  possible,  be  adhered  to, 
although  their  relative  importance  might  require  a  differ- 
ent arrangement.  In  the  first  place,  an  objection  is  raised 
against  the  orthography ;  and  in  the  next  place,  against 
the  translation  of  the  ancient  national  ajDpellatiou  of  the 
Delawares.  Mr.  Heckewelder  has  erred  in  writing  Lenni 
Lena-pi:  it  should  be  Lennee  Lenaupe,  accentuating  the 
last  sylable  with  a  strong  expiration  of  the  breath,  which 
has  no  exact  representative  in  the  Enghsh  alphabet.  If 
this  latter  is  the  case,  it  is  not  very  reasonable  to  con- 
demn a  man  for  not  doing  what  is  impossible.  In  respect 
to  the  mode  of  spelling  these  two  words,  Mr.  Heckewelder 


heckeweldek's   history.  275 

has  much  authority  on  his  side ;  but  the  variation  is  too 
minute  to  form  a  proper  subject  of  reprehension. 

The  translation  of  these  words  is  more  interesting. 
That  given  by  Mr.  Heckewelder  corresponds  with  the 
lofty  notions  entertained  by  the  savage  of  the  source 
from  which  he  sprung.  Lenni,  he  tells  us,  signifies  man, 
and  lenajyi  means  original;  but  the  Keviewers  inform  us 
that  the  more  general  and  proper  sense  of  "lennee"  is 
male,  although  in  a  restricted  sense,  it  may  signify  ma7i, 
and  that  "lenaupe"  means  common, — so  that,  according 
to  them,  these  words,  when  used  together,  import  common 
male;  according  to  Mr.  Heckewelder,  they  signify  original 
mxin.  On  which  side  the  inaccuracy  lies,  would  probably 
soon  be  decided  by  the  Delawares  themselves,  and  the 
subject  merits  no  further  notice.* 

3.  An  objection  is  next  made  to  Mr.  Heckewelder's 
relation,  that  the  Delawares  bore,  in  respect  to  other 
tribes,  the  designation  of  grandfathers,  supporting  in 
some  degree  their  claim  to  an  ancient  and  extensive 
superiority.  The  Eeviewers  deny  his  inference,  but, 
with  an  air  of  mystery,  observe  that  a  "  full  consideration 
of  the  subject  might  lead  to  important  conclusions."  Mr. 
Heckewelder  speaks  with  modesty  and  reserve,  and  it 
would  be  difficult  to  adopt  any  other  reason  for  this 
figurative  language  than  that  which  he  assigns.  We  are 
all  acquainted  with  the  constant  practice  of  the  Indians 

*  The  confusion  of  ideas  on  this  subject  imputed  to  Mr.  Hecke- 
welder, in  a  note  at  p.  68,  cannot  be  perceived  by  the  writer  of  this 
article  on  examining  the  passages  referred  to,  but  it  would  require 
too  much  time  to  go  through  them. 


27G  VINDICATION     OF 

to  apply  the  epithet  "Father,"  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  as  they  formerly  did  to  the  King  of  Great 
Britain  j  always  indicating  political  superiority  by  a  do- 
mestic phrase;  and  the  application  of  a  higher  cognate 
term  among  themselves,  in  those  early  days  to  which  it 
is  traced,  may  reasonably  be  supposed  to  have  signified 
a  still  higher  political  relation.  The  fact  itself  does  not 
seem  to  be  contradicted  by  the  Reviewers. 

4.  The  account  of  the  ancient  Lenapi  conquering  the 
Allegewi  is,  in  the  next  place,  objected  to ;  but,  whether 
true  or  false,  Heckewelder,  who  expressly  relates  it  as  a 
tradition  of  the  Lenapi,  is  not  responsible.  And  a  general 
remark  may  here  be  introduced,  that  the  author  who  pro- 
fesses to  give  an  account  of  the  history  of  a  nation  among 
whom  he  has  resided,  would  perform  his  task  imperfectly 
if  he  disregarded  their  own  traditions.  The  ancient  his- 
tory of  every  part  of  Europe  depends  on  such  traditions, 
the  probable  truth  of  which  is  sometimes  supported  by 
circumstances  that  are  subsequently  authenticated.  In 
the  Lenapian  history  of  the  total  extirpation  of  the  Alle- 
gewi, we  see  nothing  inconsistent  with  the  well-knoTVTi 
ferocity  of  savage  tribes,  which  still  unhappily  continues 
to  rage  among  them. 

5.  In  the  trifling  discussion  on  the  etjinology  of  the 
word  Mississippi,  the  Reviewers  may  be  right ;  and  if  the 
Chippewas  were  really  the  godfathers  of  that  majestic 
stream,  the  conjunction  of  the  terms  mesee  great,  and  seepee 
river,  is  more  natural  than  that  in  which  Mr.  Heckewel- 
der was  instructed  by  his  Delaware  friends. 

6.  The  ancient  fortifications  are  attributed  by  Hecke- 


heckewelder's   history.  277 

welder  to  tlie  AUegewi.  The  Reviewers  say  no, — the 
forefathers  of  the  present  Indians  erected  them ;  and  they 
gravely  quote  Dr.  Clark  to  show  that  there  were  fortifica- 
tions in  Greece.  We  will  venture  to  remark,  that  neither 
Heckewelder  nor  the  Reviewers  could  know  anything 
about  the  matter,  and  one  had  as  good  a  right  to 
speculate  as  the  other. 

7.  The  "  puerile"  history  of  the  former  power  of  the 
Delawares,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  sceptre  departed 
from  them,  is  severely  ridiculed.  Now  it  is  an  Indian 
tradition,  and  as  such  it  is  given  by  Heckewelder,  that 
the  Iroquois,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Dutch,  by  a  great 
refinement  in  policy,  and  with  considerable  difficulty, 
persuaded  the  Delawares  to  "put  on  the  petticoat  and 
become  women ;"  that  is,  to  lay  aside  the  practice  of  arms, 
and,  confining  themselves  to  the  arts  of  peace,  become  the 
arbiters  of  the  surrounding  tribes.  To  this,  it  is  said,  the 
Iroquois  were  induced  by  a  fear  of  the  numbers  and 
power  of  the  Delawares;  and,  while  they  thus  neutral- 
ized this  formidable  nation,  the  Iroquois  were  not  only 
free  from  apprehensions  for  their  own  safety,  but  were 
left  at  liberty  to  pursue  their  military  expeditions  against 
other  powers.  The  Iroquois,  on  the  contrary,  contended 
that  they  reduced  the  Delawares  to  this  condition  by 
force  of  arms ;  and  one  thing  only  is  certain,  that  until  a 
very  late  period,  the  Iroquois  asserted  certain  rights  over 
the  Delawares,  even  so  far  as  to  restrain  them  from 
aUenating  their  lands.  Their  insolent  abuse  of  this  supe- 
riority was  strongly  manifested  at  the  treaty  of  Philadel- 
phia, in  1742.      But  Heckewelder   is  supported  in  his 


278  VINDICATION     OF 

account  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Loskielj  and  lie  also  appearn  to 
have  conversed  with  some  of  the  Iroquois  on  the  subject. 
If  the  tradition  of  the  Delawares  is  correct,  it  is  certainly 
an  extraordinary  instance  of  a  nation's  voluntarily  part- 
ing with  the  means  of  self-defence  for  the  purpose  of 
becoming  mediators  and  arbiters  between  the  other 
nations.  But  the  loss  of  military  power  would  have 
been  compensated,  as  they  represented,  by  their  own 
increase  and  internal  happiness,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
constant  encroachments  of  the  white  people.  It  is  now 
of  little  consequence.  The  melancholy  and  degraded 
remnants  of  both  the  Iroquois  and  the  Delawares,  with- 
out power  or  permanence,  by  referring  to  the  memory  of 
the  past,  only  embitter  the  present,  and  vainly  seek  in 
traditions  a  consolation  for  the  absence  of  almost  every 
substantial  happiness. 

8.  INIuch  severity  is  employed  on  the  relation  given  by 
Heckewelder  of  a  conversation  between  Colonel  Crawford, 
a  prisoner  about  to  be  executed,  and  Wingenundy  a  chief 
of  the  Delawares,  whom  Crawford  had  sent  for,  in  hopes 
of  obtaining  mercy  through  his  intercession.  No  white 
man,  say  the  Reviewers,  could  have  been  present  at  this 
conversation ;  and  therefore  the  inference  is,  that  it  was 
merely  a  creature  of  Heckewelder's  imagination :  indeed, 
they  say  expressly  that  it  is  "  wholly  apocryphal." 

Now,  if  the  book  were  quoted  with  the  least  degree  of 
candor,  the  reader  would  perceive  that  Mr.  Heckewelder 
does  not  pretend  to  have  been  present  on  the  occasion, 
but  informs  us  that  the  particulars  of  this  conversation 
were  communicated  to  him  by   Wingenund  and  others. 


heckewelder's   history.  279 

« 
If  he  falsified  the  relation  he  received,  no  terms  of  repro- 
bation would  be  too  strong ;  but  a  gratuitous  imputation 
of  so  much  depravity  cannot  be  approved. 

In  the  disposition  to  cavil  at  almost  everjrthing  related 
by  our  author,  the  Reviewers  find  fault  with  another  part 
of  this  conversation.  "  Had  you  attended,"  says  Wmge- 
nund,  "  to  the  Indian  principle,  that  good  and  evil  cannot 
dwell  together  in  the  same  heart,"  &c.  This  principle  is 
declared  by  the  Reviewers  to  be  new  to  them.  "  It  would 
be  difficult,"  they  say,  "  to  find  it  either  speculatively  or 
practically  in  any  other  place  than  the  Delaware  school 
of  ethics."  They  ought  to  have  recollected  that  the 
question  is  not  whether  the  philosophy  was  sound,  but 
whether  the  information  given  to  Heckewelder  was  truly 
reported  by  him. 

It  seems  an  indirect  attempt  to  diminish  his  weight  of 
character,  and  it  does  not  merit  approbation. 

9.  In  the  same  disposition  to  condemn,  insinuations  of 
at  least  a  want  of  precision  are,  in  a  subsequent  passage, 
thrown  out  against  this  worthy  man,  to  support  which  a 
part  of  a  sentence  is  quoted.  That  an  Indian  should  say, 
"  I  am  a  sort  of  a  chief,"  is  supposed  to  be  impossible ;  but 
the  residue  of  the  sentence  is  omitted,  in  which  the 
Indian  observes,  that  he  is  neither  a  great  chief  nor  a 
very  small  one.  That  there  are  gradations  of  power  and 
distinction  among  them,  is  well  known. 

10.  Another  remark  of  the  same  Indian  is  quoted  with 
the  same  skepticism  by  the  Reviewers.  It  is  the  enumer- 
ation of  articles  which  a  successful  hunt  would  have 
enabled  the  Indian  to  procure  for  his  wife ;  and,  although 


280  VINDICATION     OF 

tliey  do  not  constitute  tlic  common  food  of  those  people, 
we  may  reasonably  suppose  that  in  the  vicinity  of  mis- 
sionary settlements  such  articles  were  known  and  accept- 
able to  the  females.*  In  their  concluding  objection,  the 
Keviewers  are  equally  unsuccessful,  if  they  mean  to  im- 
pugn the  veracity  of  Heckewelder.  They  contradict  the 
account  given  of  Tar-M,  or  the  Crane,  murdering  an 
Indian  of  the  name  of  Leatherlips  :  but  Heckewelder 
does  not  relate  the  fact  as  of  his  own  knowledge;  he 
transcribes  a  letter  by  which  the  account  was  conveyed 
to  him. 

Li  respect  to  the  philological  talents  of  Mr.  Heckewel- 
der, it  is  not  intended  at  present  to  enter  into  any  discus- 
sion. The  writer  of  these  remarks  has  never  felt  an 
inclination  to  study  evanescent  forms,  or  to  keep  alive 
a  variety  of  languages,  which,  from  every  motive  of 
national  and  beneficent  policy,  he  would  wish  to  see 
absorbed  in  one  general  tongue.  The  tribe  whose 
peculiar  and  extraordinary  dialect  rivets  the  attention 
of  the  philologist,  moulders  into  nothing  before  he 
becomes  master  of  its  language  j  and  the  vocabulary 
laboriously  collected,  and  the  grammar  scientifically  de- 
rived from  it,  in  a  few  years  remain  the  only  certain 
evidence  of  its  former  existence.  Yet  the  study  is  in 
itself  one  of  high  interest  to  those  who  delight  to  trace 
the  powers  and  operations  of  the  mind,  and  it  is  not  in- 
tended to  detract  in  the  smallest  degree  from  the  ardor 

*  In  Mr.  Schoolcraft's  journal  of  his  travels,  it  appears  that  he 
and  Governor  Cass  partook  of  a  breakfast  at  an  Indian  wigwam, 
among  the  articles  composing  which  were  bread  and  tea. 


heckewelder's   history.  281 

of  their  pursuits.  On  the  present  occasion,  it  will  only 
be  observed  that,  in  1819,  the  Reviewers  applauded  "  the 
ingenious  and  useful  labors"  of  Heckewelder  in  these  in- 
vestigations;  and,  in  1826,  he  is  styled  "negligent  and 
inaccurate."  On  this  subject,  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  whose 
work  is  mentioned  with  approbation  by  the  Reviewers, 
may  also  be  referred  to.  His  words  are,  "  The  inquiries 
into  the  Indian  languages,  under  the  directions  of  Mr. 
Heckewelder,  evince  more  severity  of  research  than  had 
before  his  time  been  bestowed  upon  the  subject ;  but  the 
observations  of  this  pious  and  wor+hy  missionary  have 
only  opened  the  door  of  inquiry." 

These  remarks  have,  perhaps,  been  sufficiently  ex- 
tended for  the  mere  purposes  of  vindication.  If  it  has 
been  shown,  that  in  many  instances  Heckewelder  has 
been  unfairly  quoted  and  unjustly  condemned,  we  are 
entitled  to  ask  for  further  evidence  of  his  errors,  before 
we  assent  to  the  total  rejection  of  his  book  from  the 
catalogue  of  our  standard  authorities. 

But  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  inquire,  whether  those 
who  have  spared  another  so  httle,  have  entitled  them- 
selves, by  their  own  consistency  and  precision,  to  the 
exercise  of  an  office  so  high  and  so  severe.  Whoever 
reads  the  whole  of  this  part  of  the  Review,  cannot  fail  to 
perceive  in  it  a  constant  attempt  at  original  and  profoimd 
reiection,  not  always  successful;  theories  that  are  con- 
tradicted or  abandoned  almost  as  soon  as  they  are  fonned, 
and  modes  of  ratiocination  which  frequently  refute  them- 
selves. We  are  assured  by  the  Reviewers,  that  we  are 
about  as  ignorant  of  the  moral  character  and  feeUngs  of 


282  VINDICATION    OF 

the  Indians,  as  when  Jacques  Cartier  first  ascended  the 
St.  Lawrence.  The  confession  is  commendable,  if  it  were 
correct ;  but  he  who  undertakes  to  assert  that  the  mass 
of  information  of  which  we  are  possessed  is  not  to  be  de- 
pended on,  ought  to  satisfy  us  that  he  has  acquired  that 
exact  and  superior  knowledge  which  can  alone  enable 
him  thus  to  pronounce  upon  the  imperfections  of  ours. 

It  is  positively  asserted  that  the  Indians  "have  no 
government;"  but  this  is  explained  by  saying  that  they 
have  none  whose  operation  is  felt  either  in  rewards  or 
punishments,  and  yet  the  Keviewers  add  that  their  lives 
and  property  are  protected.  By  what  means,  unless  by 
some  power  of  government,  can  this  protection  be  system- 
atically afforded?  Their  "political  relations"  among 
themselves,  and  with  other  tribes,  are  said  to  be  duly 
preserved.  How  can  they  be  preserved  unless  by  means 
of  law^s,  not  the  less  obligatory  because  not  reduced  to 
writing.* 

The  submission  of  an  Indian  who  has  been  guilty  of 
murder  to  the  retributive  stroke  of  a  relation  of  the  de- 
ceased is,  by  an  interrogative  mode  of  reasoning,  referred 
to  some  unknown  principle,  equally  efficacious  with  the 
two  great  motives  of  hope  and  fear,  "upon  which  all 
otlier  governments  have  heretofore  rested."  Without 
pausing  to  consider  the  meaning  of  the  word  "other," 
which  no  accurate  writer  would  make  use  of,  unless  the 
Indians  also  had  a  government,  we  may  distinctly  accoimt 

*  In  page  63  of  the  Review,  we  are  told  that  the  Indians  lave 
laws  regulating  marriage.  It  would  be  strange  if  they  had  laws  on 
no  other  subject. 


heckewelder's   history.  283 

for  the  course  pursued  on  such  occasions  by  referring  to 
the  ancient  history  of  European  nations,  where  similar 
procedures  were  established  as  the  regular  course  of  penal 
law.  They  prevailed  in  Greece,  in  the  time  of  Homer ; 
in  Germany,  when  Tacitus  wrote  his  annals ;  in  England, 
Wales,  and  Ireland;  and  although  now  generally  abol- 
ished, it  is  well  known  that  in  England  they  still  con- 
tinue, in  certain  cases,  under  some  legal  restrictions. 

The  Indian,  therefore,  who  submits  to  this  mode  of 
vindictive  punishment,  submits  to  the  laws  of  his 
country ;  and  if  he  neither  "  flees  nor  resists,"  it  is 
because  both  would  be  alike  disgraceful  and  una- 
vailing. 

But  these  retaliative  criticisms  need  not  to  be  further 
pursued,  although  perhaps  some  addition  to  them  might 
fairly  be  made.  The  detection  of  errors  in  reasoning,  or 
inaccuracies  in  diction,  on  the  part  of  the  Reviewers, 
will  not  redeem  the  faults  of  Mr.  Heckewelder ;  yet  it  is 
not  unpardonable  to  have  shown  that  those  who  are  so 
liberal  of  censure,  are  not,  themselves,  free  from  imperfec- 
tion. The  authority  of  a  sentence  is  somewhat  impaired, 
when  we  perceive  that  the  judge  partakes  of  the  same 
delinquency. 

The  author  of  these  strictures,  seeing  no  reason  to  alter 
the  opinions  of  Mr.  Heckewelder's  merits,  which  he 
avowed  in  the  Inaugural  Address,  has  felt  it  a  duty  to 
endeavor  to  support  them ;  but  he  hopes  that  he  will  not 
be  thought  to  have  evinced  more  asperity  than  the  occa- 
sion justifies.  The  merit  of  the  North  Ameiican  Review  is 
fully  admitted.     It  generally  contains  much  valuable  in- 


284  VINDICATION,     ETC. 

formation  and  sound  remark  :  it  supports  our  literary 
reputation  abroad,  and  largely  contributes  to  the  dissem- 
ination of  polite  learning  at  home ;  but,  in  the  present 
article,  the  Reviewers  seem  to  have  forgotten  their  own 
habits,  and  it  may  also  be  said,  their  own  established 
character.  The  rumor  by  which  it  is  attributed  to  a 
person  in  office  under  the  United  States,  may  not  be 
unfounded ;  but,  on  rumor  only,  his  name  could  not  be 
introduced  without  impropriety ;  and  no  other  course  is 
open  to  general  readers,  than  to  consider  the  publication 
as  an  adoption,  by  the  editors,  of  all  which  the  article 
contains. 


AN 

ACCOUNT 

OP   THE 

FIRST  SETTLE^IENT  OP  THE  TOWNSHIPS 

OP 

BUCKINGHAM  AND   SOLEBUEY, 

BUCKS  COUNTY,  PENNSYLVANIA, 

WITH   EEMARKS    ON 

THE  ADVANCE  OF  IMPROVEMENTS  IN  AGRICULTURE,  ETC. 


THE    STATE   OF    MANNERS    IK    SOCIETY    AT    DIFFERENT    PERIODS  ;    INTERSPERSED 

WITH   NAMES   OF   THE    FIRST   SETTLERS,    REMARKABLE 

OCCURRENCES,    ANECDOTES,    ETC. 

THE   "WHOLE   INTENDED   AS   A   CHARACTERISTIC   COMPARISON   OF   ONE   ERA 

WITH    ANOTHER,     AND    TO    PRESERVE    SOME     KNOWLEDGE     OF 

OUR    FOREFATHERS,   IN  THEIR    PROGRESS    IN    SETTLING 

AND   IMPROVING   A   WILDERNESS   COUNTRY. 

BY  Dr.  JOHN  WATSOX. 

MDOOCIV. 


Communicated  by  Mr.  Isaac  Gomly,  of  Byherry,  Bucks  County, 
at  a  Meeting  of  the  Council,  on  the  \Wi  of  April,  1826. 

(285) 


i 


FIRST    SETTLEMENT 


BUCKITs^GHAM  AND   SOLEBURY. 


The  township  of  Buckingham,  situate  near  the  centre 
of  the  County  of  Bucks,  is  the  largest  township  in  the 
county,  containing  18,488  acres. 

Solebury  lies  between  Buckingham  and  the  river  Dela- 
ware, and  contains  14,073  acres. 

The  whole  of  the  two  townships  in  early  time  was 
called  Buckingham,  being  a  favorite  name  with  our  first 
worthy  proprietor,  William  Penn.  The  name  was  first 
given  to  the  township  and  borough  now  called  Bristol, 

but  transferred  here  perhaps  about  the  year ,  before 

Cutler's  resurvey ;  by  which  it  appears,  that  the  two 
townships  were  divided  by  a  northwest  line  from  the 
lower  corner  of  Thomas  and  John  Bye's  tract,  extending 
to  the  upper  corner  of  Randal  Blackshire's  tract. 

John  Cutler,*  in  the  draught  from  which  the  preceding 

*  John  Cutler,  with  his  brother,  Edmund  Cutler,  and  Isabella,  his 
wife,  arrived  in  the  Ship  "  Rebecka,  of  Liverpoole,"  the  31st  of  8th 

(287) 


288  WAT  son's   account   of 

is  taken,  has  noted  that  four  perches  in  breadth  were  left 
between  the  opposite  surveys,  for  a  pubhc  street  or  road, 
being  on  the  northeast  of  the  township  of  Buckingham, 
and  on  the  southwest  of  the  township  of  Solebury.  It 
appears  probable  that  it  was  designed  that  every  pur- 
chaser should  have  the  advantage  of  a  road  on  one  side 
of  his  survey ;  and  therefore  they  were  laid  out  answer- 
ing to  each  other,  about  three  hundred  and  twenty 
perches  in  width  on  each  side  of  the  township  line,  and 
one  range  further  in  Solebury. 

It  appears,  by  an  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  taken 
in  1787,  that  Buckingham  contained  173  dwelling-houses, 
188  out-houses,  1173  white  inhabitants,  and  18  blacks. 
Solebury,  166  dwelling-houses,  150  out-houses,  928  white 
inhabitants,  and  no  blacks. 

In  the  township  of  Buckingham,  a  fine  stream  of  water, 
arising  from  numerous  small  springs  in  the  gritland  above 
York  Road ;  and  some  larger  supplies,  from  the  limestone 
land  below,  unites  its  several  branches,  and,  running 
through  the  southwest  end  of  Wrightstown,  falls  into  the 
Neshamony.    The  Indian  name  of  this  stream  was  Lahas- 


mouth,  1685.  They  were  from  "Slateburn  in  Bowland,  Yorkshire," 
England. 

John  does  not  appear  to  have  been  married  at  the  time  of  his 
arrival. 

The  children  of  Edmund  were  Elizabeth,  born  the  14th,  .3d  mo., 
1680,— Thomas,  16th,  9th  mo.,  1681,— William,  16th,  10th  mo.,  1682. 
(Bucks  County  Registry  of  Arrivals,  Doylestown.) 

Slaitburn  or  Slandburn  (York  W.  R.),  not  far  from  Barnesley, 
anciently  belonged  to  the  Lacies,  Es.  of  Lincoln,  &c.,  &c. — "  Eng- 
land's Gazeteer,"  London,  1T51.— Editoe. 


BUCKINGHAM    AND     SOLEBURY.  289 

kekee  or  Lahaskeek.  The  white  people  called  it  Ran- 
dall's Run  ;  and  a  south  branch,  Roberts'  Run. 

Two  rocky  ridges  of  the  same  Indian  name  run  parallel 
to  each  other,  and  about  eighty  perches  apart,  on  the 
southwest  side  of  the  creek.  Between  these  hills  and  the 
stream,  there  is  a  piece  of  fine  land,  of  a  soil  black,  light, 
and  sandy,  which  probably  was  once  an  Indian  settle- 
ment. In  1769,  a  white-oak  tree  was  cut  on  this  land, 
in  which  there  were  several  large  marks  of  an  axe ;  which 
showed  by  the  years'  growths,  that  it  had  been  done  near 
fifty  years  before  the  grant  of  the  province  to  William 
Penn.  I  have  seen  the  form  of  a  hawk  or  eagle  cut  in 
the  bark  of  a  white-oak  by  the  Indians  not  far  distant. 

The  stone  on  these  hills  is  a  kind  of  hard  sandy  flint, 
and  a  bed  of  limestone  deep  underneath. 

The  same  ridge  rises  again  about  eighty  perches  on  the 
southeast  of  the  creek,  and  extends  nearly  northeast,  in- 
clining to  the  east,  three  miles,  to  near  Buckingham' line. 
This  hill  is  much  higher  than  the  others ;  the  stone  and 
soil  the  same,  and  the  Indian  name  the  same.  After  a 
small  interval  of  about  eighty  perches,  broken  and  irregu- 
lar hills  continue  to  the  river,  winding  in  their  direction 
rather  more  eastwardly,  and  of  an  entirely  different  kind 
of  stone,  being  a  hard  ochre  or  bluish  rock,  inclining  to  a 
round  form,  but  very  unshapely  for  building.  On  the 
southeast  side  of  these  hills  rise  those  fine  springs  of 
water  that  form  the  source  of  Pidcock's  Creek. 

James  Letch,  who  formerly  travelled  on  foot  to  Long 
Island,  traced  this  chain  of  broken  hills  throughout  his 

19 


290  WATSON 'S     ACCOUNT     OF 

journey;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  they  form  the  first 
rocky  ridge  from  the  seashore. 

A  certain  Doctor  Bowman,  being  of  a  contemplative 
turn  of  mind,  in  the  early  settlement,  used  to  frequent 
the  fine  round  top  of  one  of  these  hills  near  the  river ; 
and,  at  his  request,  he  was  buried  there.  It  is  since  been 
called  Bowman's  Hill.  Many  others  have  been  buried 
at  the  same  place.  Bowman's  Hill  is  directly  opposite  to 
another  on  the  Jersey  shore  called  Belmount,  of  the  same 
height,  form,  and  direction;  and  they  appear  to  have 
been  separated  by  the  river  Delaware.  This  appears 
evident  at  a  distant  observation,  and  is  fully  confinned 
by  examining  the  ends  of  the  hills. 

The  broken  hills  near  the  river,  in  the  upper  end  of 
Solebur}'-,  are  cut  into  deep  winding  hollows  by  streams 
of  water.  In  these  banks,  and  around  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, are  great  abundance  of  good  building  stone,  split- 
ting and  dressing  well,  of  a  finer  or  coarser  grained  grit, 
and  of  different  colors.  Some  are  a  mixture  of  coarse 
sand  and  pebbles.  All  these  kinds  of  stone,  on  a  some- 
what sandy  soil,  are  common  in  the  upper  part  of  both 
townships. 

In  the  hills  near  Howell's  Ferry,  and  thence  in  a  south- 
westerly direction,  through  Solebury  and  part  of  Bucking- 
ham, rocks  are  found,  very  suitable  for  rough  millstones 
and  other  uses  of  that  kind.  A  narrow  vein  of  limestone 
begins  in  Buckingham,  back  of  the  Lahaskekee  Hill,  and 
runs  parallel  with  it,  and  probably  under  it,  to  the  north- 
east end  of  Buckingham  line,  and  then  becomes  wider  in 


BUCKINGHAM     AND     SOLEBURY.  291 

Solebury,  and  divides,  interspersed  with  other  soils,  to 
the  river.  In  the  lower  part  of  Buckingham,  the  soil  is  a 
loam,  blue  clay,  or  shell  on  a  shell  bottom,  pretty  level 
and  wet.  Solebury  is  generally  hilly,  with  a  great 
variety  of  different  soils  and  stones,  well  supplied  for  the 
most  part  with  springs  of  good  water,  except  on  a  piece 
of  barrens,  where  there  are  no  springs  nor  running  water. 
This  land,  with  proper  management  of  late  years,  has  pro- 
duced good  crops  of  grain  and  grass. 

A  very  large  spring  rises  in  Solebury,  called  by  the 
natives  Aquetong,  and  by  the  white  people  Ingham's,  or 
the  Great  Spring.  The  water  flows  out  in  a  cove  or 
hollow;  the  stone  on  the  southeast  being  a  solid  red- 
shell,  while  those  on  the  northwest  are  limestone.  It  is 
remarkably  clear  and  cold  in  summer,  and  seldom  freezes 
in  winter.  The  quantity  is  supposed  sufficient,  with 
eighteen  or  twenty  feet  fall,  to  turn  two  grist-mills  almost 
uniformly  throughout  the  year ;  and  there  are  five  good 
sites  for  mill-works  on  the  stream  to  where  it  falls  mto 
the  Delaware,  at  Newhope  or  Coryell's  Ferry,  a  distance 
of  about  three  miles.  It  is  employed,  at  the  present  time, 
for  one  paper-mill,  one  fulling-mill,  two  merchant-mills, 
four  saw-mills,  and  an  oil-mill. 

There  has  been  an  inquiry  concerning  the  source  from 
which  so  great  a  quantity  of  water  is  so  regularly  sup- 
plied. Perhaps  the  most  probable  conjecture  is,  that 
throughout  all  or  most  part  of  the  limestone  vein,  for 
eis-ht  or  nine  miles  to  the  southwest,  there  are  larcie 
cavities  formed  by  the  decaying  of  the  stones ;  and  these, 
in  some  places,  having  openings  which  admit  fresh  and 


292  watson's   account   of 

moist  air,  tlic  ox  tensive  cold  stone  surface  acting  like  a 
vast  still,  is  continually  dropping  and  running  down  the 
sides,  and  affording  a  fresh  supply  of  water.  To  this 
may  be  added  the  water  collected  in  ponds  and  limestone 
sinks,  which  are  numerous. 

The  water  may  be  collected  in  several  subterraneous 
reservoirs  or  ponds,  and,  pouring  down  from  the  higher 
into  the  lower,  and  being  confined  by  a  vein  of  red-shell 
or  some  other  kind  of  hard  stone  or  earth,  may  at  length 
flow  out  in  one  place. 

To  confirm  this  opinion,  it  is  remarked  that  the  water 
in  four  or  five  wells  on  T.  Bye's  tract,  and  in  a  sink  near 
them,  is  on  an  exact  level,  and  that  they  rise  and  fall 
together.  But  some  difficulty  arises  to  account  for  this 
rising  and  falling  of  the  water,  if  there  be  a  free  vent  for 
its  discharge. 

Isaac  Pillars'  spring  discharges  a  lively  stream,  but  in 
dry  summers  falls  several  feet,  and  when  there  are  but  a 
few  gallons  in  the  bottom,  it  cannot  be  emptied  by  lading 
out,  which  shows  that  it  is  supplied  by  a  large  body  of 
water  under  ground. 

Large's  pond,  on  the  York  Road,  appears  to  have  been 
one  of  these  limestone  smks.  The  area  is  about  half  an 
acre.  The  water  never  rises  above  a  certain  height,  and 
falls  in  a  dry  summer  ten  or  twelve  feet,  but  is  never 
quite  dry. 

A  little  below  Coryell's  Ferry,  now  called  Newhope, 
the  Delaware  is  confined  between  two  hills.  This  place 
is  called  the  Narrows,  and  the  river  is  said  to  fall  seven 
or  eidit  feet  in  about  half  a  mile.     The  whole  channel 


BUCKINGHAM     AND     SOLEBURY.  293 

is  full  of  rocks,  and  the  water  roars  aloud  in  passing 
through.  From  hence  up  to  Faxon's  Island,  there  is  in 
many  places  a  sudden  rise,  ten  or  twelve  feet  high,  called 
the  Boother  Bank.  This  has  doubtless,  at  some  time,  been 
the  bank  of  the  river ;  but  if,  at  some  distant  period,  the 
water  of  the  river  Delaware  flowed  over  the  top  of  Bow- 
man's Hill  (which  is  probable),  this  small  alteration  in  its 
course  must  have  happened  long  since,  perhaps  at  the 
time  of  some  great  fresh. 

It  is  also  supposed  that  the  Delaware  once  flowed  over 
the  top  of  the  Blue  Mountain,  and  that  there  was  a  great 
lake  on  the  north  side  of  it;  that  the  fall  of  a  great 
southerly  storm  of  rain,  at  the  breaking  up  of  winter,  and 
melting  of  a  deep  snow,  has  so  raised  the  waters  that  the 
obstruction  of  the  water  gap  at  the  mountain  was  sud- 
denly borne  away,  causing  a  vast  rise  of  the  waters  below 
and  producing  proportionable  effects.  Probably  the  ob- 
struction at  Solebury  and  other  places  above  were  then 
worn  down  and  carried  away.  It  is  certain  that  large 
pieces  of  limestone  and  other  stone  are  now  found  along 
the  shore,  that  have  been  washed  down  a  great^distance. 
Different  kinds  of  stone,  by  continual  rolling  and  wear- 
ing, have  become  smooth  and  round,  and  are  called 
boothers.  The  continual  washing  away  of  the  earth  by 
the  fall  of  rains  and  flowing  of  streams,  has  caused  the 
winding  hollows  and  general  inequalities  that  now  appear, 
at  least  this  broken  roughness  must  be  now  much  greater 
than  it  was  two  thousand  years  back. 

The  first  settlers  generally  came  from  England,  and 
were  of  the  middle  rank,  and  chiefly  Friends :  many  of 


294  WAT  son's   account   of 

them  had  first  settled  at  the  Falls,  hut  soon  after  removed 
back,  as  it  was  then  called,  into  the  woods.  As  they 
came  away  in  the  reigns  of  Charles,  James,  William,  and 
Ann,  they  brought  with  them  not  only  the  industry, 
frugality,  and  strict  domestic  discipline  of  their  education, 
but  also  a  portion  of  those  high-toned  political  impressions 
that  then  prevailed  in  England. 

Friends  had  suffered  much  under  the  Stuarts;  and 
though  promised  much  by  the  Oliverians  and  a  republican 
equality,  they  experienced  but  little  relief  from  either. 
They  therefore  equally  disliked  the  Presbyterians  and 
the  pretender ;  and  were  loyally  attached  to  the  Protestant 
succession  in  the  house  of  Hanover. 

Being  particularly  pleased  with  the  charter  of  privileges 
formed  by  their  great  patron,  William  Penn,  they  natu- 
rally esteemed  it  a  kind  of  religious  duty,  vigilantly  to 
guard  against  anything  that  might  tend  to  a  violation  of 
so  valuable  an  acquisition,  which  at  once  secured  civil 
and  religious  hberty.  The  principles  of  government 
having  been  warmly  discussed  for  some  time  back  in  the 
mother  country,  the  subject  had  become  familiar  to  com- 
mon capacities ;  and  politics  were  frequently  a  topic  of 
fireside  conversation,  in  which  the  newly  installed  free- 
men felt  themselves  deeply  interested. 

From  this  remote  cause,  perhaps,  has  originated,  in 
part,  the  zealous  energy  of  party  spirit  at  the  present 
time.  Many  of  the  early  settlers  of  Buckingham  and 
Solebury  had  been  educated  in  what  may,  with  some  pro- 
priety, be  termed  good  style;  and  though  not  great 
scholars,  yet  were  great  men.     The  exercise  of  their  per- 


BUCKINGHAM    AND    SOLEBURY.  295 

sonal  and  mental  abilities  were  excited  into  a  high  flow 
of  energy  by  the  bold  enterprise  of  settling  a  new  coun- 
try, under  so  many  novel  circumstances,  of  such  import- 
ance to  themselves  and  their  posterity.  The  women  were 
generally  good  housekeepers ;  or  at  least,  their  industry 
and  frugality  made  proper  amends  for  whatever  might  be 
deficient,  in  respect  to  such  improvements  and  refine- 
ments as  were  not  so  well  suited  to  their  circumstances  of 
mediocrity  and  equality. 

At  that  early  period,  when  our  forefathers  were  build- 
ing log  houses,  barns,  and  sheds  for  stables,  and  clearing 
new  land,  and  fencing  it  chiefly  with  poles  or  brush,  it 
has  been  said  that  a  hearty,  sincere  good  will  for  each 
other  generally  prevailed  among  them.  They  all  stood 
occasionally  in  need  of  the  help  of  their  neighbors,  who 
were  often  situated  at  some  distance  through  the  woods. 

Chronic  ailments  were  not  so  frequent  as  at  present ; 
which  was,  perhaps,  in  part  omng  to  the  wholesome  diet ; 
brisk  exercise,  hvely  manners,  and  cheerful  and  unrefined 
state  of  the  mind.  But  acute  disorders,  such  as  fevers, 
in  various  degrees  —  those  called  "long  fevers,  dumb 
agues,  fever-and-agues," — sore  throats,  and  pleurisies  were 
then  much  more  common  than  now.  The  natural  small- 
pox was  peculiarly  distressing  —  was  mostly  severe,  and 
often  mortal  —  and  nothing  strange  that  it  should  be  so. 
The  nature  of  the  disorder  being  but  little  known,  it  was 
very  improperly  treated  by  the  nurses,  to  whose  care  the 
management  was  chiefly  committed.  A  hot  room,  plenty 
of  bedclothes,  hot  teas,  and  milk  punch,  or  hot  tiff"  were 
pronounced  most  proper  to  bring  the  eruption  out,  and  to 


290  Watson's  account  of 

make  it  fill  well ;  and  the  ehiel'  danger  was  apprehended 
from  the  j^atient  taking  cold  by  fresh  air  or  cold  drink. 

This  mode  of  ill-directed  kindness  produced  scenes  of 
afflicting  distress ;  nearly  whole  families  being  ill  at  once. 
Good  friends  and  neighbors,  both  men  and  women,  col- 
lected, affording  their  assistance  by  turns,  often  for  several 
weeks.  Rum  was  esteemed  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
sick,  and  nearly  as  much  so  for  the  attendants.  A  dram, 
either  raw,  sweetened,  or  with  wormwood  or  rue  juice, 
and  chewing,  but  more  commonly  smoking  tobacco,  were 
used  as  antidotes  against  infections  or  offensive  smells. 
A  dram  or  the  pipe  amused  the  vacant  time,  and  was 
supposed  to  be  useful.  As  money  was  scarce,  and  laborers 
few,  and  business  often  to  be  done  that  required  many 
hands,  friends  and  neighbors  were  commonly  invited  to 
raisings  of  houses  and  barns,  grubbing,  chopping,  and 
rolling  logs,  that  required  to  be  done  in  haste  to  get  in 
the  crop  in  season.  Rum  and  a  dinner  or  supper  were 
provided  on  these  occasions ;  and  much  competition  ex- 
cited in  the  exercise  of  bodily  strength  and  dexterity, 
both  at  work  and  athletic  diversions. 

Reciprocal  assistance  being  much  wanted  was  freely 
afforded  and  gratefully  received,  and  notwithstanding  the 
rude  and  unpolished  state  of  mind  and  manners  that  may 
be  expected  to  have  prevailed  in  the  first  settlers  in  a 
wilderness  country,  and  in  a  much  more  marked  degree 
in  those  who  succeeded  after  them,  yet  from  their  mutual 
wants  and  dependencies,  the  social  and  active  ^dvacity  of 
simple  nature,  and  perhaps  more  than  all  these,  from 
their  hearty  and  honest  zeal  in  a  rehgious  bias  of  the 


BUCKINGHAM    AND    SOLEBURY.  297 

mind,  a  kind  and  unaffected  friendship  formed  a  principal 
feature  of  their  general  character.  Their  equality  of 
circumstances,  similarity  of  views  and  pursuits,  and  union 
in  religious  and  civil  principles,  and  the  acquisition  of 
new  acquaintances  far  from  their  former  connexions,  all 
tended  to  unite  them  in  habits  of  sociability,  and  to  form 
impressions  of  smcere  regard. 

When  false  impressions,  or  indeed  ignorance,  have  once 
so  far  gained  ground  as  to  influence  general  habits  and 
customs  on  an  erroneous  principle,  it  requires  much  labor, 
and  a  long  time  to  wear  them  out.  This  appears  evident 
in.  the  use  that  is  made  of  spirituous  liquors  and  tobacco. 
It  is  probable  the  first  settlers  used  these  articles  to  ward 
off  infection ;  and  spirits  principally  to  prevent  the  bad 
effects  of  drinking  water,  to  which  they  had  not  been 
accustomed  in  Europe.  They  imagined  the  air  and  water 
of  this  hot  climate  to  be  unwholesome.  The  immediate 
bad  effect  of  cold  water,  when  heated  with  exercise  in 
summer,  and  the  fevers  and  agues  which  seized  many  in 
the  autumn,  confirmed  them  in  this  opinion;  and  not 
having  conveniences  to  make  beer  that  would  keep  in  hot 
weather,  they  at  once  adopted  the  practice  of  the  laboring 
people  in  the  West  Indies,  and  drank  rum.  This  being 
countenanced  by  general  opinion,  and  brought  into  general 
practice  as  far  as  their  limited  ability  would  admit,  bottles 
of  rum  were  handed  about  at  vendues,  and  mixed  and 
stewed  spirits  were  repeatedly  given  to  those  who  attended 
funerals  — 

"  So  fast  the  growth  of  what  is  surely  wrong." 


208  watson's   ac'count  of 

A  concern  arose  among  Friends  on  the  subject,  and  a 
stop  was  pnt  to  tliis  evil  practice  in  a  short  time.  I  call 
it  evil,  because  it  produced  effects  that  were  hnrtnil  in  a 
high  degree  to  individuals,  and  also  to  society  in  general. 

An  act  of  Assembly  was  passed,  prohiljiting  the  giving 
of  spirits  at  vendues ;  and  though  the  law  was  not  much 
regarded  for  many  years,  and  the  j)ractice  continued,  yet 
this  mischievous  and  dishonest  practice  is  almost  wholly 
disused. 

In  early  times  weddings  were  held  as  festivals ;  probably 
in  imitation  of  such  a  practice  in  England. 

Relations,  friends,  and  neighbors  were  generally  in- 
vited, sometimes  to  the  amount  of  one  or  two  hundred ; 
a  good  dinner  was  provided,  and  a  hvely  spirit  of  plain 
friendship,  but  rather  rude  manners,  prevailed  in  the 
company. 

They  frequently  met  again  next  day,  and  being  mostly 
young  people,  and  from  under  restraint,  practised  social 
plays  and  sports,  in  which  they  often  went  to  an  extreme 
of  folly;  but  in  those  times  such  opportunities  of  pro- 
moting social  acquaintance  might  be  in  some  degree  proper, 
though  otherwise  wrong. 

At  births  many  good  women  were  collected ;  wine  or 
cordial  waters  were  esteemed  suitable  to  the  occasion  for 
the  guests :  but  besides  these,  rum,  either  buttered  or 
made  into  hot  tiff,  was  believed  to  be  essentially  neces- 
sary for  the  lying-in  woman.  The  tender  infant  must  be 
straightly  rolled  round  the  waist  with  a  linen  swathe,  and 
loaded  with  clothes  until  he  could  scarcely  breathe ;  and. 


BUCKINGHAM    AND    SOLEBURY.  299 

when  unwell  or  fretful,  was  dosed  with  spirit  and  water 
stewed  with  spicery. 

Thus  it  was  that  manners  and  customs  were  not  yet 
reduced  from  the  rude  and  unpolished  practices  of  antiquity 
to  the  proper  standard  of  use  and  jDropriety.  A  consider- 
able degree  of  roughness  and  rusticity  of  mind  and  man- 
ners prevailed,  and  for  some  time  increased  in  the  gener- 
ations that  succeeded  the  first  settlers.  For  this  I  shall 
call  to  view  several  reasons;  first,  the  loose  order  of 
schools;  the  severe  whippings  and  ferulings,  which  did 
not  at  all  mend  the  matter ;  the  small  stock  of  learning 
obtained;  but  more  than  all,  the  free  use  of  rum  at 
vendues,  at  frolics,  and  in  hay-time  and  harvest.  On  all 
these  occasions,  quarrels  and  fist  fights  frequently  hap- 
pened ;  and  in  the  lower  class  of  people  a  high  degree  of 
ignorance  and  want  of  respect  due  to  themselves  or 
others  prevailed ;  so  that  much  might  be  seen  and  heard 
that  was  low-lived  in  the  full  sense  of  the  term ;  and  this 
was  far  from  being  limited  to  persons  of  small  property 
only. 

When  wheat  and  rye  grew  thick  and  tall  on  new  land, 
and  all  was  to  be  cut  with  sickles,  many  men  and  some 
women  became  dexterous  in  the  use  of  them,  and  victory 
was  contended  for  in  many  a  violent  trial ;  sometimes  by 
two  or  three  only,  and  sometimes  by  the  whole  company 
for  forty  or  fifty  perches.  About  the  year  1744,  twenty 
acres  of  wheat  were  cut  and  shocked  in  half  a  day  in 
Solebury.  Rum  w\as  drunk  in  proportion  to  the  hurry  of 
business,  and  long  intervals  of  rest  employed  in  merry 
and  sometimes  angry  conversation. 


300  WAT  son's   account  of 

The  imposing  uuthorily  of  necessity  ol^ligcd  tlie  first 
settlers  and  their  successors  to  wear  a  strong  and  coarse 
kind  of  dress ;  enduring  buckskin  was  used  for  breeches 
and  sometinjes  for  jackets ;  oznabrigs,  made  of  hemp  tow 
at  Is.  4(1.  per  yard,  was  mucli  used  for  boys'  shirts;  some- 
times flax,  and  flax  and  tow  were  used  for  that  purpose, 
and  coarse  tow  for  trowsers;  a  wool  hat,  strong  shoes, 
and  brass  buckles,  two  linsey  jackets,  and  a  leather 
apron,  made  out  the  winter  apparel.  This  kind  of  dress 
continued  to  be  common  for  the  laboring  people  until 
1750. 

Yet  a  few,  even  in  early  times,  somewhat  to  imitate 
the  trim  of  their  ancestors,  laid  out  as  much  to  buy  one 
suit  of  fine  clothes  as  would  have  purchased  two  hundred 
acres  of  pretty  good  land.  The  cut  of  a  fine  coat  (now 
antiquated)  may  be  worthy  of  description.  Three  or 
four  large  plaits  in  the  skirts  —  wadding  almost  like  a 
coverlet  to  keep  them  smooth  —  cuffs  vastly  large  up  to 
the  elbows,  open  below,  and  of  a  round  form.  The  hat 
of  a  beau  was  a  good  broad-brinuned  beaver,  with  double 
loops,  drawn  nearly  close  behind,  and  half  raised  on  each 
side.  The  women  in  full  mode  wore  stiff"  whalebone  stays, 
worth  eight  or  ten  dollars.  The  silk  gown  much  plaited 
in  the  back ;  the  sleeves  nearly  twice  as  large  as  the  arm, 
and  reaching  rather  more  than  half  way  from  the  shoulder 
to  the  elbow  —  the  interval  covered  with  a  fine  holland 
sleeve,  nicely  plaited,  locket  buttons,  and  long-armed 
gloves.  Invention  had  then  reached  no  fiirther  than  a 
bath  bonnet  with  a  cape. 

Something  like  this  was  the  fashion  of  gay  people,  of 


BUCKINGHAM     AND     SOLEBURY.  301 

whom  there  were  a  few,  though  not  many  in  early  times, 
in  Buckingham  and  Solebury.  But  the  whole,  or  some- 
thing like  it,  was  often  put  on  for  wedding  suits,  with  the 
addition  of  the  bride  being  dressed  in  a  long  black  hood 
without  a  bonnet.  There  was  one  of  these  solemn  sym- 
bols of  matrimony  made  of  near  two  yards  of  rich  black 
Paduasoy,  that  was  lent  to  be  worn  on  those  occasions, 
and  continued  sometimes  in  use,  down  to  my  remem- 
brance. Several  of  these  odd  fashions  were  retained, 
because  old,  and  gradually  gave  way  to  those  that  were 
new.  The  straw  plat,  called  the  bee-hive  bonnet,  and 
the  blue  or  green  apron,  were  long  worn  by  old  women. 

Notwithstanding  the  antique  and  rough  dresses  and 
unimproved  habits  and  manners  that  obtained  among  the 
early  settlers,  yet  an  honest  candid  intention,  a  frank  sin- 
cerity, and  a  good  degree  of  zeal  and  energy  in  adhering 
to  religious  and  civil  principles  and  duties,  generally  pre- 
vailed among  the  more  substantial  part  of  them. 

The  careful  housewifery  and  strict  domestic  discipline 
of  many  honorable  mothers,  has  had  an  influential  effect 
down  to  the  present  time :  so  that  whatever  there  may 
have  been  or  that  now  remains  as  valuable  traits  of 
character,  in  the  inhabitants  of  these  parts  of  the 
country,  is  chiefly  owing  to  the  virtues  of  the  first 
settlers,  especially  in  those  families  (which  are  many) 
who  remain  to  the  present  time. 

The  first  surveys  in  what  was  then  called  Buckingham 
were  as  early  as  16  8-  and  the  greater  part  were  located 
before  1703.  It  is  now  not  easy  to  ascertain  who  made 
the  first  improvement ;  but  most  probably,  from  circum- 


302  WAT  son's     ACCOUNT     OF 

stances,  it  was  Thomas  and  John  Bye ;  and  George  Pow- 
nall;'=  Edward,  Henry,  and  Roger  Hartley,  Doctor  Streper, 
and  William  Cooper,  came  early ;  Richard  Burgess,  John 
Scarbrough,  grandfather  of  the  preacher  of  that  name, 
and  Henry  Paxon,f  were  also  early  settlers.  John  and 
Richard  Lundy,J  John  Large,  and  James  Lenox,  and 
William  Lacey,  John  Worstell,  Jacob  Holcomb,  Joseph 
Linton,  Joseph  Fell,  Matthew  Hughes,  Hugh  Ely,  and 
perhaps  Richard  Norton,  came  from  Long  Island  about 
1705. 

*  George  Pownall,  with  Eleanor,  his  wife,  and  children,  Reuben, 
Elizabeth,  Sarah,  Rachel,  and  Abigail,  arrived  in  the  Ship  "  Friends' 
Adventure,"  28th,  tth  mo.,  1682.  They  were  from  Loylock,  in  the 
County  of  Chester,  England. — Bucks  County  Registry  of  Arrivals. 

The  same  records  registers  the  birth  of  a  son  of  George  and 
Eleanor  .Pownall,  11th  of  9th  mo.,  1682,  and  the  death  of  George 
Pownall  previously,  on  the  30th  of  8th  mo.,  1682. 

There  may  be  an  error  in  the  Registry,  and  9th  month  may  have 
been  intended  for  1th,  and  the  record  refer  to  the  same  individual ;  or 
the  George  named  in  the  text  may  have  been  the  person  whose  birth 
is  recorded,  and  the  record  of  death  that  of  his  father,  who  arrived  in 
1682.— Editor. 

f  "  Hcnr)'  Paxon,  of  "  Bycot  House,  in  the  Parish  of  Stow," 
"  in  the  County  of  Oxford,"  England,  aged  about  twenty-seven 
years,  came  in  the  Ship  '  The  Samuel,  of  London,'  and  arrived 
middle  of  7th  mo.,  1682 ;"  his  wife,  brother  Thomas,  and  son  Henry, 
died  at  sea;  his  daughter  Elizabeth,  born  about  5th  of  9th  mo.,  1675, 
survived.  He  appears,  on  13th  of  6th  mo.,  to  have  married  Margery 
Plumley,  of  "  Xcshaminey  Creek."     Registry  of  Arrivals. — Editor. 

I  Richard  Lundy,  of  Axminster,  Devonshire,  England,  son  of 
Sylvester  Lundy,  of  same  town,  originally  came  to  Boston,  X.  E., 
6th  mo.,  1676;  thence  to  Pennsylvania,  19th  of  3d  mo.,  1682.  He 
married,  24th  of  6th  mo.,  1684,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William  Ben- 
net,  of  Longford,  Co.  Middlesex,  England,  who  arrived  8th  mo., 
1683.  He  is  styled  of  "  Glasenbery,  Co.  Bucks,"  Pennsylvania. — 
Registry  of  Arrivals. — Editor 


BUCKINGHAM     AND     SOLEBURY.  303 

The  first  adventurers  were  chiefly  members  of  the 
Falls  Meeting;  and  are  said  to  have  frequently  attended 
it,  and  often  on  foot.  In  the  year  1700,  leave  was 
granted  by  the  Quarterly  Meeting  to  hold  a  meeting  for 
worship  at  Buckingham,  which  was  first  at  the  house  of 
William  Cooper  (now  John  Gillingham's) .  They  soon 
after  removed  to  the  hoase  of  James  Steiper  (now  Benja- 
min Williams') ;  and  in  that  time,  and  for  some  time 
after,  some  of  those  who  died  in  the  new  settlement  were 
buried  on  his  land,  I  believe  near  the  line  in  the  old 
orchard, — others  were  taken  to  the  Falls  or  Middletown. 
In  a  short  time,  they  removed  again,  and  held  a  meeting 
at  Nathaniel  Bye's,  where  his  grandson,  Thomas  Bye, 
now  lives. 

Doctor  James  Streiper  then  made  a  deed  in  trust  to 
several  Friends  for  ten  acres  of  land  to  build  a  meeting- 
house on,  and  for  a  bur3dng-ground,  with  pri\dlege  of 
roads  five  several  ways  or  directions  through  his  tract  to 
go  to  it ;  and  on  a  clear  grassy  spot,  on  the  west  side  of  a 
path  or  road  that  went  winding  up  the  hill,  they  built  a 
log  meeting-house,  near  the  lower  side  of  the  present 
graveyard.  As  their  numbers  increased  rapidly,  in  the 
year  1710  they  were  united  with  Wrights  town  in  holding 
a  monthly  meeting  at  that  place;  and  at  some  time,  when 
their  log  house  was  found  to  be  too  small,  they  built  a 
frame  house,  a  little  further  up.  Before  joining  with 
Wrightstown  (a  period  perhaps,  with  some  of  them,  of 
twenty  years),  they  are  said  to  have  been  diligent  in 
attending  meetings  for  discipline,  though  at  so  great  a 
distance. 


304  WAT  son's   account   of 

It  is  probable  that  about  the  time  of  building  the  first 
house,  a  graveyard  was  fenced  in  near  by;  this  place 
might  be  preferred,  because  clear  of  timber  and  grassy, 
but  it  was  wet  in  winter  and  very  unsuitable. 

About  1720,  Wrightstown  and  Buckingham  were 
joined,  to  hold  a  monthly  meeting  alternately  at  each 
place;  and  perhaps  about  that  time  an  addition  of  a 
stone  house  was  made  to  the  upper  end  of  the  frame 
building,  to  accommodate  the  women  to  hold  their  meet- 
ings of  business.  This  arrangement  continued  until  1731, 
when  a  pretty  large  stone  house  was  built,  a  little  higher 
up  the  hill,  and  a  stone  addition  at  the  upper  end,  one 
story  high,  for  the  women.  Many  Friends  were  then 
desirous  of  building  on  the  spot  where  the  meeting-house 
now  stands,  particularly  Thomas  Canby,  Jun.  He  pur- 
chased a  piece  of  land  for  the  purpose  of  building  at  least 
on  a  somewhat  better  place  than  the  old  spot,  to  which 
the  prejudices  of  some  strongly  attached  them. 

In  this  house,  in  1732,  Friends  of  Buckingham  first 
held  a  separate  monthly  meeting,  and  perhaps  quarterly 
and  general  meetings. 

Friends  at  Buckingham  Meeting,  about  that  period, 
were  greatly  favored  with  a  lively  flow  of  Gospel 
ministry.      Jacob   Holcomb,  John   Scarbrough,*  Samuel 

*  "John  Scarborough,  of  London,  coachsmith,  arrived  in  1682, 
with  his  son  John,  then  a  youth,  and  settled  in  Middletown,  Bucks 
County,  among  the  first  in  those  parts,  where  he  remained  about  two 
years,  and  then  embarked  for  his  native  country,  having  placed  his 
son  under  the  care  of  a  Mend,  with  intention  to  bring  over  his  wife 
and  family ;  having  suifered  much,  by  persecution  for  his  religion,  in 
England,  being  a  Quaker,  but  he  never  returned.     His  wife,  who 


BUCKINGHAM     AND     SOLEBURY.  305 

Eastbum,  Joshua  Ely,  Benjamin  Fell,  Enoch  Pearson, 
Edmund  Kinsey,  Abigail  Paxson,  Ehzabeth  Fell,  Phebe 
Ely,  formerly  Phebe  Smith,  Jane  Bradfield,  Ann  Schol- 
field,  were  all  ministers,  and  all  of  them  at  the  same  time 
members  of  Buckingham  Meeting,  except  Jacob  Holcomb 
and  Abigail  Paxson,  who  were  deceased  before  my 
memory:  all  the  rest  I  can  well  remember,  about  1750 
and  1751.  John  Scarbrough  was  frequent  and  generally 
large  in  his  testimonies;  as  was  also  Isaac  Child,  who 
appeared  at  Plumstead  when  quite  a  young  man. 
Nathan  Preston  and  Thomas  Vickers  were  ministers 
belonging  to  that  meeting. 

In  the  space  of  time  from  the  first  improvement  until 
1730,  perhaps  a  period  of  more  than  forty  years,  many 
circumstances  and  occurrences  may  be  worthy  of  remark, 
and  especially  the  difficulty  of  beginning  in  the  woods. 
Building  a  house  or  cabin,  and  clearing  or  fencing  a  field 
to  raise  some  grain,  were  the  first  concerns;  procuring 
fodder  for  their  small  stocks  was  next  to  be  attended  to  : 
for  this  purpose  they  cut  grass  in  plains  or  swamps,  often 
at  several  miles  from  home,  stacked  it  up  on  the  spot,  and 
hauled  it  home  in  the  winter. 

One  of  the  first  dwelling-houses  yet  remains  in  Abra- 


was  not  a  Quaker,  being  unwilling  to  leave  her  native  countrv,  and 
persecution  beginning  to  cease,  he  afterwards  gave  his  possessions 
in  Pennsylvania  to  his  son,  whom  he  had  left  in  the  province  with 
a  strict  charge,  when  it  should  be  in  his  power,  to  bo  kind  to  the 
poor  Indians,  for  the  favors  he  had  received  from  them :  which  his 
son  faithfully  observed  and  complied  with,  and  is  said  to  have  been 
a  worthy  man  and  a  good  character."  Proud,  Yol.  I.,  p.  222,  223.- — 
Editor. 

20 


30G  watson's   account   of 

ham  Paxson's  yard  on  the  tract  called  William  Croas- 
dale's,*  now  Henry  Paxson's.  It  is  made  of  stone,  and  is 
dug  into  the  earth,  where  there  is  a  moderate  descent, 
about  twenty  feet  by  ten  or  twelve.  At  the  end  fronting 
the  southeast  was  a  door  leading  into  the  dwelling-room 
for  the  whole  family,  where  there  was  a  sort  of  chimney ; 
and  a  door  at  the  other  end,  also  level  with  the  ground, 
led  into  the  loft,  which  must  have  been  the  lodging- 
room. 

Until  a  sufficient  quantity  of  grain  was  raised  for  them- 
selves and  the  new-comers,  all  further  supply  had  to  be 
brought  from  the  Falls  or  Middletown;  and,  until  1707, 
all  the  grain  had  to  be  taken  there  or  to  Morris  Gwin's, 
on  Pennepack  below  the  Billet,  to  be  ground.  In  that 
year,  Robert  Heath  built  a  grist-mill  on  the  great  spring 
stream  in  Solebury.  This  must  have  been  a  great  hard- 
s}iip^ — to  go  so  far  to  mill  for  more  than  seventeen  years, 
and  chiefly  on  horseback.  It  was  some  time  that  they 
had  to  go  the  same  distance  with  their  plough-irons  and 
other  smithwork.  Horses  were  seldom  shod ;  and  blocks 
to  pound  hominy  were  a  useful  invention  borrowed  from 
the  natives.  After  all  their  care  and  industry  to  provide 
for  the  winter,  they  must  have  struggled  with  many 
difficulties  and  suffered  much  hardship  in  passing  over 
that  tedious  and  rigorous  season,  when  the  snow  was 
generally  deep,  and  the  winds  piercing  cold. 

Li  1690,  there  were  many  settlements  of  Indians  in 

*  William  and  John  Croasdalc  were  the  sons  of  Thomas  and 
Agnes  Croasdale.  Thomas  died  in  1684,  and  Agnes  in  1686. — 
Rcgidry  of  Arrivals. — Editor. 


BUCKINGHAM     AND     SOLEBURT.  307 

these  townships, — one  on  the  lowland  near  the  river,  on 
George  Po^\aiairs  tract,  which  remained  for  some  time 
after  he  settled  there, — one  on  James  Streiper's  tract, 
near  Conkey  Hole, — one  on  land  since  Samuel  Harold's, 
— one  on  Joseph  Fell's  tract, — and  one  at  the  great 
spring,  &c. 

Tradition  reports  that  they  were  kind  neighbors,  sup- 
plying the  white  people  with  meat,  and  sometimes  with 
beans  and  other  vegetables,  which  they  did  in  perfect 
charity,  bringing  presents  to  their  houses,  and  refusing 
pay.  Their  children  were  sociable  and  fond  of  play.  A 
harmony  arose  out  of  their  mutual  intercourse  and  de- 
pendence. Native  simplicity  reigned  in  its  greatest 
extent.  The  dijBference  between  the  families  of  the  white 
man  and  the  Indian,  in  many  respects,  was  not  great, — 
when  to  live  was  the  utmost  hope,  and  to  enjoy  a  bare 
sufficiency  the  greatest  luxury. 

About  1704,  several  new  settlers  arrived;  among  whom 
was  my  great-grandfather,  Thomas  Watson.  His  certifi- 
cate is  from  Pardsey  Cragg,  in  Cumberland,  G.  B.,  dated 
23d,  7th  mo.,  1701.  His  wife  was  Eleanor  Pearson,  of 
Probank,  in  Yorkshire,  and  their  two  sons,  Thomas  and 
John.  He  first  settled  at  a  place  then  called  Money  Hill, 
near  Bristol; -and  settled  finally,  about  1703  or  1704,  on 
Rosill's  four  hundred  acres,  in  Buckingham. 

About  the  same,  came  Joseph  Fell, Linton,  Mat- 
thew Hughes,  John  Hill,  Ephraim  Fenton,  Isaac  Pen- 
nington, and Pickering. 

Thomas  Canby,  for  several  reasons,  appears  to  deserve 
especial  notice.    His  mother's  brother,  Samuel  Baker,  was 


308  watson's  account  of 

one  of  the  early  adventurers;  and  soon  after,  return' ng 
to  England,  brought  his  nephew,  Thomas  Canby,  then  a 
lad,  over  with  him.  Being  an  orplian,  his  uncle  became 
his  guardian.  He  was  bound  by  indenture  to  serve  with 
him;  in  which  they  took  the  advice  of  the  Quarterly 
Meeting.  After  he  was  free,  he  married  and  settled  near 
Robert  Fletcher's,  in  Abington.  His  first  wife  died,  and 
he  married  a  second  wife.  By  these  wives  he  had  four 
sons  and  eleven  daughters.  The  sons  were  Thomas,  Ben- 
jamin, Oliver,  and  Joseph,  who  died  in  his  minority. 
Several  of  the  daughters  married  as  follows : 

Sarah,  to  John  Hill;  Esther,  to  Stapler,  after- 
wards to  John  White ;  Phebe,  to  Robert  Smith,  afterwards 
to  Hugh  Ely;  Elizabeth,  to  Thomas  Lacey;  Mary,  to 
Joseph  Hamton;  Rebecca,  to  Samuel  Wilson;  Jane,  to 
Thomas  Paxson ;  Martha,  to  James  Gillingham,  afterwards 
to  Joseph  Duer;  Lydia,  to  John  Johnson.  Ann  and 
Rachel  died  single. 

Thomas  Canby  removed  and  settled  on  a  part  of 
Lundy's  tract  in  Buckingham,  on  which  he  built  a  stone 
house  one  story  high,  with  a  hip  roof,  now  belonging  to 
Joshua  Anderson.  This  he  sold  to  Samuel  Blaker,  and 
purchased  Scarbrough's  tract  in  Solebury,  where  his  two 
sons,  Thomas  and  Benjamin,  built  houses,  having  pur- 
chased of  their  father.  This  now  belongs  to  Matthias 
Hutchinson  and  John  Scarbrough. 

Thomas  himself  removed  to  Heath's  mill,  which  he 
purchased  in  company  with  Anthony  Morris  of  Philadel- 
phia. Here  he  married  a  third  wife,  and  for  some  time 
carried  on  business  at  the  mill.     His  son,  OHver  Canby, 


BUCKINGHAM    AND    SOLEBURT.  309 

having  that  land  and  stream  where  the  Brandywine  mills 
are  now  erected,  the  old  man  removed  there  also;  but 
returned  back,  and  died  at  Solebury  in  the  year  1742. 

He  was  a  hvely,  active  man,  of  plain,  sound  under- 
standing, a  good  constitution,  and  qualified  to  carry  on 
business  with  spirit.  He  maintained  a  strict  discipline  in 
his  family;  and  it  is  remarkable,  that  nearly  all  his 
children  were  happily  matched,  and  that  many  reputable 
famihes  have  sprung  from  him  as  an  original  ancestor. 

My  great-grandfather,  Thomas  Watson,  followed  malt- 
ing in  England ;  but  from  original  curiosity  in  his  mind, 
he  became  acquainted  with  several  of  the  books  which 
were  then  in  request  in  surgery,  physic,  and  chemistry, 
and  settling  here,  where  no  practitioner  resided  for  many 
miles,  he  by  degrees  became  in  high  esteem  as  a  doctor. 
It  is  reported  that  he  was  very  successful  in  setting 
broken  bones,  and  curing  scald  heads,  old  ulcers,  and  dis- 
orders in  general.  He  was  the  original  inventor  of  the 
spicy  anodyne  called  Watson's  black  drops,  which  is  an 
excellent  medicine.  After  his  decease,  which  I  suppose 
was  in  1731  or  1732,  his  son,  John  Watson,  with  much 
better  opportimity  of  acquiring  medical  knowledge,  took 
his  father's  place  as  the  only  doctor  for  t^v^enty  miles  in 
every  direction.  He  was  much  improved  by  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  Doctors  Bond,  Jones,  Kearsley,  Owen, 
and  others,  during  sixteen  years  of  his  attendance  as  a 
member  of  Assembly  at  Philadelphia.  He  was  possessed 
of  an  uncommonly  sociable  disposition  and  strong  powers 
of  mind;  he  pursued  a  rational  method,  and  was  very 
successful  in  his  practice.     He  died  in  1760. 


310  watson's   account   of 

Tlioinus  Watson,  eldest  son  of  Thomas  Watson,  died 
before  his  father ;  leaving  several  children,  who  all  died 
young,  except  John  and  Sarah.  John  Watson  was  sent 
to  school,  and  procured  a  greater  stock  of  learning  than 
was  common  in  those  times.  He  became  the  deputy  sur- 
veyor in  this  county,  and  by  the  force  of  a  suitable 
docility  of  mind  and  quickness  of  perception,  rather  than 
from  constant  applicatiouy.  he  acquired  among  learned 
men  the  character  of  a  great  scholar.  At  the  time  of  his 
decease,  which  was  in  1761,  he  was  employed  in  company 
with  Purdie  and  Dixon  in  running  the  line  between  Penn- 
sylvania and  Maryland.  Being  seized  with  the  influenza, 
and  having  taken  cold  while  in  a  fever,  and  in  extremely 
hot  weather  he  rode  upwards  of  sixty  miles  in  a  day  to 
William  Blackfan's,  where  he  died. 

Henry  Paxson,  not  the  same  who  is  marked  as  a  first 
purchaser  also,  but  perhaps'his  brother's  son,  was  an  early 
inhabitant  (in  1729  or  sooner).  He  had  a  large  family 
of  children,  two  sons,  and  eight  daughters,  who  married  to 
the  following  persons,  to  wit  — 

Thomas  Hartley,  Matthew  Beans,  Henry  Koberts,  D. 
Doan,  Joseph  Duer,  Timothy  Beans,  Jonas  Preston,  Thomas 
Paxson.     His  sons  were  Henry  and  Thomas. 

Samuel  Wilson  married  Kebecca  Canby ;  they  had  four- 
teen children,  one  died  young ;  six  sons  and  seven  daugh- 
ters.    The  daughters  married  as  follows  : 

Joseph  Eastburn,  Jonathan  Fell,  Hugh  Ely,  Joseph 
Fell,  Robert  Kirkbride,  Joshua  Morris. 

These  examples  show  what  a  great  number  of  the 
present  inhabitants  have  arisen  from  a  few  original  stocks. 


BUCKINGHAM     AND     SOLEBURY.  311 

Samuel  Wilson's  children  liave  all  been  married,  and 
are  all  living,  except  Thomas. 

While  the  land  was  fresh  and  new,  it  produced  good 
crops  of  wheat  and  rye;  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  or 
thirty  bushels  per  acre. 

It  appears  in  an  old  account  book  of  my  grandfather, 
Eichard  Mitchel's,  who  had  a  grist-mill  and  store  in 
Wright's  town,  from  1724  to  1735,  that  his  charges  are 
as  follows  :  wheat,  from  3-5.  to  4.s. ;  rye,  one  shilling  less ; 
Indian  corn  and  buckwheat,  25. ;  middlings,  fine,  75.  and 
85. ;  coarse,  4-5.  6cZ. ;  bran,  l-s. ;  salt,  45. ;  beef,  2c?. ;  bacon, 
4f?. ;  pork  was  about  2d. 

Improved  land  was  sold  generally  by  the  acre,  at  the 
price  of  twenty  bushels  of  wheat.  Thus,  wheat,  2s.  6c?., 
land,  11.  10s. ;  wheat,  35.,  land,  3Z. ;  wheat,  35.  6cZ.,  land, 
3Z.  IO5. ;  wheat,  55.,  land,  5Z. ;  wheat,  75.  6f7.,  land,  7?. 
IO5. ;  wheat,  IO5.,  land,  10?.  When  provender  could  be 
procured  to  keep  stock  through  the  winter,  milk,  butter, 
and  cheese  became  plenty  for  domestic  use.  Swine  were 
easily  raised  and  fattened.  Deer,  turkeys,  and  other 
small  game,  made  a  plentiful  supply  of  excellent  provision 
in  their  season.  Eoast  venison  and  stew-pies  were 
luxurious  dishes,  which  the  hunter  and  his  family  en- 
joyed in  their  log  cabins  with  a  high  degree  of  pleasure. 

Having  generally  passed  over  the  era  of  necessity  that 
attended  the  first  settlement  about  1730,  and  for  some 
time  before,  they  mostly  enjoyed  a  pretty  good  Hving, 
were  weU  fed,  clothed,  and  lodged ;  and  though  all  was 
in  the  coarse  way,  yet  their  fare  was  wholesome  and 
nourishing,  their  clothes  fine  enough  for  laboring  people. 


312  WAT  son's   account   of 

and  no  doubt  they  slept  as  sound  on  cliafT  beds  on  the 
'floor  in  the  loft  us  tliey  could  have  done  with  all  the 
finery  that  the  inventions  of  later  days  havo  introduced. 
The  domestic  management  that  fell  to  the  share  of  the 
women  was  generally  well  ordered.  As  soon  as  wool  and 
flax  were  raised,  they  manufactured  good  linen  of  dif- 
ferent kinds  and  degrees  of  fineness,  drugget,  hnsey, 
worsted,  &c.,  sufficient  to  clothe  themselves  and  families ; 
were  very  industrious  and  frugal,  and  contented  to  live 
on  what  their  present  means  afforded,  and  were  generally 
well  qualified  to  make  the  most  proper  use  of  what  they 
had. 

Notwithstanding  the  engagements  at  home,  and  the 
difficulty  of  travelling  in  those  early  times,  yet  visits  of 
friendship  were  frequent,  not  only  to  relations,  but  others. 
On  these  occasions,  cider,  metheglin  or  small  beer,  toast 
of  light  biscuit  made  of  fine  wheat  flour,  and  milk,  butter, 
cheese,  custards,  pies,  made  an  afternoon's  repast.  Choco- 
late was  sometimes  used,  and,  in  lack  of  other  materials, 
the  toast  was  sometimes  made  with  rum  and  water.  For 
common  living,  milk  and  bread  and  pie  made  the  break- 
fast, the  milk  being  boiled,  and  sometimes  thickened  in 
winter ;  good  pork  or  bacon,  with  plenty  of  sauce,  a  wheat 
flour  pudding  or  dumplings,  with  butter  and  molasses,  for 
dinner ;  and  mush  or  hominy,  with  milk  and  butter  and 
honey,  for  supper.  Pies  of  green  or  dried  ajDples  were 
the  universal  standard  of  good  eating,  especially  with 
children.  When  milk,  was  scarce,  small-beer  thickened 
with  wheat  flour  and  an  egg,  or  cider  in  that  way,  made 
an  agreeable  brealifast. 


BUCKINGHAM    AND    SOLEBURY.  313 

The  new  stone  meeting-house  being  built  about  1731, 
several  stone  dwelling-houses  were  built  about  that  time 
and  soon  after;  as  Joseph  Fell's,  Thomas  Canby's,  John 
Watson'S;,  Joseph  Large's,  and  Henry  Paxson's.  Several 
frame  houses  were  also  built,  enclosed  with  nice  shaved 
clapboard,  plastered  inside.  One  of  these  yet  remains 
standing  on  Thomas  Watson's  land,  now  John  Lewis's. 
The  boards  for  floors  and  partitions  were  all  sawed  by 
hand,  and  the  hauhng  done  with  carts  and  sleds,  as  there 
were  not  many,  if  any,  wagons  at  that  early  period. 

Wheat  was  the  principal  article  for  making  money. 
Butter,  cheese,  poultry,  and  such  articles  were  taken  to 
market  on  horseback.  There  were  but  few  stores  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  those  kept  but  few  articles. 

Most  of  the  original  tracts  were  settled  and  improved 
before  1720;  and,  in  1730,  the  lands  up  the  Neshamony 
and  in  Plumstead  were  settled ;  and  in  New  Britain  by 
Welsh  generally.  Large  fields  were  cleared  and  pretty 
well  fenced;  low  and  swampy  land  was  cleared  out  for 
meadow ;  and  but  little  seed  of  any  kind  of  foreign  grass 
was  sown,  as  the  plough  was  seldom  used  to  prepare  for 
meadow;  and  red  and  white  clover  were  only  propagated 
by  manure  after  they  were  first  somehow  scattered  about 
on  the  new  settlement. 

From  1730  to  1750,  as  the  people  were  industrious, 
the  land  fresh  and  fertile,  and  seasons  favorable,  their 
labors  were  blessed  with  a  plentiful  increase  :  so  that 
many  plain  dwelling-houses  and  good  barns  were  built, 
convenient  articles  of  household  furniture  were  added 
by  degrees;    and   by   the    means   of   productive   labor, 


314  WATSON  S    ACCOUNT    OF 

moderate  riches  increased  insensibly.  The  -wnnter  of 
1740-41  was  very  severe.  The  snow  was  deep,  and  lay 
from  the  latter  end  of  December  to  the  fourth  of  March ; 
and  in  the  period  above  mentioned,  there  was  generally 
more  snow,  and  that  lay  longer  on  the  ground  through 
the  winters  than  of  latter  years.  Easterly  storms  of 
pretty  heavy  rain,  lasting  mostly  two  or  three  days,  were 
also  much  more  frequent. 

Northern  lights,  I  believe,  are  not  so  common  of  late 
years  as  formerly ;  but  of  this  I  am  not  certain. 

Houses  for  keeping  school  in  were  very  few,  and  those 
poor,  dark,  log  buildings ;  the  masters  generally  very  un- 
suitable persons  for  the  purpose ;  and  but  little  learning 
obtained  at  school.  Schooling  w^as  twenty  shillings  a 
year,  and  tbe  master  boarded  with  the  employers. 

Lidian  corn,  not  being  an  article  of  trade,  was  not 
attempted  to  be  raised  in  large  quantities  before  1750, 
nor  until  some  years  after.  It  was  dressed  by  ploughing 
and  harrowing  between  the  rows,  the  hills  all  moulded 
nicely  with  the  hoe  when  the  corn  was  small,  and,  after 
ploughing,  hilled  up  again  with  the  hoe.  For  wheat? 
open  fallows  were  preferred,  which  were  generally 
ploughed  three  times  during  the  summer;  but  in  this 
way,  unless  corn  and  buckwheat  had  preceded,  the  blue 
grass,  not  being  killed,  became  injurious  to  the  crop. 
Hence,  what  was  called  double  cropping  became  common : 
which  is  sowing  oats  on  the  corn-stalk  and  buckwheat 
ground,  and  then  sowing  wheat  in  the  fall.  This  prac- 
tice eflfectually  killed  the  grass  and  impoverished  the 
land,  large   fields   being   sown    and   but   small   portions 


BUCKINGHAM     AND     SOLEBURY.  315 

manured.  Liming  answered  a  good  purpose,  wliicli  kept 
the  soil  in  better  heart ;  but,  on  the  whole,  wheat  crops 
were  on  the  decline,  growing  poorly  in  the  fall,  being 
eaten  by  lice  or  small  flies ;  and,  in  wet  land,  being  frozen 
out  by  the  winter.  Mildew  and  rust  sometimes  destroyed 
it  near  the  harvest.  On  all  these  accounts,  spring  grain 
was  more  cultivated ;  and  as  horses,  cattle,  and  pork,  bore 
a  better  price,  served  in  part  to  make  up  the  deficiency. 
But  the  land  generally  suffered  by  a  bad  method  of 
farming. 

Before  this  time,  no  cross  occurrence  happened  materi- 
ally to  disturb  the  general  tranquillity ;  every  thing,  both 
public  and  private,  went  on  in  an  even  and  regular 
routine ;  moderate  wishes  were  fully  supplied ;  neces- 
saries and  conveniences  were  gradually  increased;  but 
luxuries  of  any  kind,  except  spirituous  liquors,  were 
rarely  thought  of,  or  introduced,  either  of  apparel,  house- 
hold furniture,  or  living.  Farm  carts  were  had  by  the 
best  farmers.  Thomas  Canby,  Richard  Norton,  Joseph 
Large,  Thomas  Gilbert,  and  perhaps  a  few  more,  had 
wagons  before  1745;  and  a  few  two-horse  wagons,  from 
then  to  1750,  were  introduced;  and  some  who  went  to 
market  had  light  tongue-carts  for  the  purpose.  These 
were  a  poor  make-shift,  easily  overset,  the  wild  team 
sometimes  ran  away,  and  the  gears  often  broke.  John 
Wells,  Esq.,  was  the  only  person  who  ever  had  a  riding- 
chair.  He  and  Matthew  Hughes  were  the  only  justices 
of  the  peace,  except  Thomas  Canby,  who  held  a  commis- 
sion for  a  short  time ;  and  there  were  no  taverns  in  the 
two  townships,  except  on  the  Delaware,  at  Howell's  and 


31G  WAT  son's   account   of 

Coryell's  Ferries  (wliieli  was  owing  probably  to  the  dispo- 
sition and  manners  of  the  inhabitants),  and  but  one  dis- 
tillery a  short  time. 

The  preceding  account  will  apply  with  general  pro- 
priety to  the  state  of  things  until  1754,  when  a  war 
began  between  England  and  France,  concerning  lands  on 
the  west  and  northwest  of  Pennsylvania.  Colonel  Wash- 
ington was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  on  Wills's  Creek ; 
and,  in  the  ensuing  summer  General  Braddock  was  de- 
feated and  killed  in  that  country.  When  the  Indians 
attacked  the  frontiers  of  this  province,  four  or  five  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds  were  granted  in  a  few  years  for  the 
king's  use ;  money  was  also  sent  in  from  England  to  pur- 
chase provisions,  and  in  general  the  war  introduced  a 
more  plentiful  supply  of  cash.  Trade  and  improvements 
were  proportionably  advanced ;  the  price  of  all  kinds  of 
produce  was  increased,  wdieat  was  from  six  shillings  to  a 
dollar  a  bushel,  and  a  land  tax  was  raised  to  sink  the 
debt ;  yet  the  burden  was  not  sensibly  felt,  as  there  was 
such  an  increasing  ability  to  bear  it. 

As  the  quantity  of  cash  increased  during  the  war,  so 
also  there  was  a  much  larger  importation  of  foreign 
goods.  Bohea  tea  and  coffee  became  more  used,  which 
were  not  often  to  be  found  in  any  farmer's  house  before 
1750.  Tea,  in  particular,  spread  and  prevailed  almost  uni- 
versally. Half  silks  and  calico  were  common  for  women's 
wearing;  various  modes  of  silk  bonnets,  silk  and  fine 
linen  neckhandkerchiefs,  in  short,  every  article  of 
women's  clothing  Avere  foreign  manufacture.  The  men 
wore  jackets  and  breeches  of  Bengal,  nankeen,  fustian, 


BUCKINGHAM     AND     SOLEBURY.  317 

black  everlasting,  cotton  velvet,  as  the  fashion  of  the 
season  determined  the  point,  which  changed  almost  every 
year.  Household  furniture  was  added  to,  both  in  quan- 
tity and  kind ;  and  hence  began  the  marked  distinction 
between  rich  and  poor,  or  rather  between  new-fashioned 
and  old-fashioned,  which  has  continued  increasing  ever 
since.  The  first  beginning  was  by  imperceptible  degrees ; 
I  believe  tea  and  calico  were  the  chief  initiating  articles. 
Tea  was  a  convenient  treat  on  an  afternoon's  visit,  easily 
gotten  ready  at  any  time;  and  calico  a  light  agreeable 
dress  that  would  bear  washing.  On  the  whole,  present 
calculation,  on  the  first  cast,  decided  against  homespun 
of  almost  every  kind,  and  in  favor  of  foreign  manu- 
factures, which  were  to  be  had  in  the  city  or  country 
stores  so  cheaj)  and  often  on  credit. 

The  subject  of  old  and  new  fashion  bore  a  considerable 
dispute,  at  least  how  far  the  new  should  be-  intrgduced. 
Some  showed  by  their  practice  that  they  were  for  going 
as  far  as  they  could,  some  stopjDcd  half  way,  and  a  few, 
trying  to  hold  out  as  long  as  they  could,  were  not  to  be 
won  upon  by  any  means  more  likely  to  prevail  than  by 
the  women,  who  had  a  strong  aversion  to  appearing 
singular;  so  that  at  the  present  time,  and  for  these 
twenty  years  past,  there  are  but  few  men  and  fewer 
women  left  as  perfect  patterns  of  the  genuine  old-fashioned 
sort  of  people. 


The  author  of  the  preceding  relic  died  recently,  in 
Bucks  county,  at  an  advanced  age.     He  was,  as  may  be 


318  watson's  account  of 

easily  inferred  from  the  text,  one  entirely  unaccustomed 
to  literary  composition  and  of  a  defective  education. 
Nevertheless,  the  amount  of  matter  Which  the  piece  con- 
tains, calculated  to  interest  either  the  local  antiquary  or 
the  student  who  delights  in  surveying  that  process  by 
which  a  vigorous,  intelligent,  and  industrious  population 
is  formed,  constituting  the  strength  of  such  a  country  as 
America,  has  led  the  Committee  of  Publication  to  con- 
clude on  its  insertion,  in  all  the  naif  sincerity  of  the 
original. 

John  Watson  —  for  he  was  not,  as  may  readily  be  sup- 
posed, a  medical  graduate  —  was  a  man  of  unquestioned 
moral  character.  His  pretensions  to  the  Esculapian  art 
were  of  that  species  which  are  elicited  by  necessity  in  a 
new  and  remote  country.  He  spent  much  of  his  time  in 
doing  good ;  living  upon  his  farm,  and  by  no  means  con- 
fining his  attention  to  the  practice  of  medicine.  His 
honest  and  well-earned  reputation,  as  an  upright  citizen 
and  a  healer  of  differences,  will  long  dwell  in  the  memories 
of  the  substantial  landholders  of  the  district  he  describes. 
The  Historical  Society  have  long  had  it  in  view  to  collect 
monographic  descriptions  of  the  different  counties  and 
other  important  districts  of  our  State.  Besides  the  local 
interest,  which,  in  a  land  where  the  whole  population  are 
lords,  and  where  every  plantation  has  been  the  scene  of 
a  recent  and  romantic  adventure,  must  always  exist  to  a 
powerful  degree,  such  collections  furnish  abundant  food 
to  the  philosophical  politician,  and  a  copious  fund  of 
materials  to  the  future  writer  who  shall  prepare  a  his- 
torical and  geographical  accomit  of  our  community.     The 


BUCKINGHAM    AND    SOLEBURY.  319 

Committee  earnestly  hope  that  the  example  set  by  the 
publication  of  the  foregoing  will  draw  forth  from  many 
minds  equally  active  with  that  of  its  author,  but  better 
furnished  with  the  qualifications  of  a  writer,  those  con- 
tributions which  are  desired. 

^^^  The  words  sJiell  and  red-sliell,  presumed  to  be  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  old  mineralogical  term  shale,  are  familiarly 
used  in  the  neighborhood  to  express  a  species  of  clay-slate, 
crumbHng  into  small  parallelopipeds. 


The  remarkable  spring  mentioned  at  page  291,  rises  in  about  the 
centre  of  a  tract  of  land,  containing  six  hundred  and  twelve  acres, 
granted  by  the  heirs  of  James  Logan,  for  a  Public  Library.  In  1192, 
upon  the  annexation  of  the  Loganian  Library  to  the  Library  Com- 
pany of  Philadelphia,  the  property  became  vested  in  the  latter  insti- 
tution, upon  the  same  trusts. 

These  lands  were  leased  for  $155.55  per  annum,  and  the  lease 
expiring  in  1861,  it  was  renewed  for  one  hundred  and  twenty-one 
years,  at  $1022.15  per  annum. — Editor. 


BRIEF    ACCOUNT 


DISCOYEEY  OP  ANTHRACITE  COAL 


LEHIGH. 


BY  THOMAS   C.  JAMES,   M.D. 


Read  at  a  Meeting  of  the  Council,  on  the  IWi  of  April,  1826. 


21  (  321 ) 


AN  ACCOUNT 


DISCOVERY   OF  ANTHEACITE  COAL, 


As  the  brief  Account  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Anthra- 
cite Coal  on  the  summit  of  the  Mauch  Chunk  Mountain 
seemed  to  engage  the  attention  of  some  of  the  members 
of  the  Historical  Society,  on  one  of  the  evenings  of  the 


The  author  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  on  ihe  31st 
of  August,  1*166,  and  received  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1781.  In  the  winter  of  1790,  he 
went  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  further  pursued  his  studies,  under  Dr. 
Hunter ;  and,  after  visiting  England  and  Ireland,  returned  to  Phila- 
delphia in  the  year  1793,  about  the  period  of  the  breaking  out  of  the 
yellow  fever-,  during  all  its  ravages  many  were  the  recipients  of  his 
kindness  and  skill. 

In  1811,  he  was  elected  to  the  Chair  of  Obstetrics,  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  which  he  resigned  in  1834. 

Dr.  James  had  strong  literary  and  poetic  tastes,  and  for  some 
years  was  the  Editor  of  a  Medical  Journal.  Highly  regarded  by  his 
medical  associates  for  his  professional  learning  and  skill,  and  by  all 
for  his  many  estimable  qualities  as  a  citizen  and  a  raan,  he  died  on 
the  5th  of  January,  1835,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

We  are  indebted  for  these  facts  to  a  Biographical  Sketch  by  the 
late  Mr.  Tyson.     (Society's  Memoirs,  Yol.  III.,  p.  105.) — Editor, 

(3-3) 


324  AN     ACCOUNT    OF    THE 

meeting  of  their  Council,  and  as  it  lias  been  thought 
worthy  of  preservation,  the  writer  of  tlie  fcjllowing  little 
narrative  feels  no  objection  to  commit  it,  notwithstanding 
its  imperfections,  to  paper,  although  the  circumstances 
detailed  occurred  at  such  a  distance  of  time  as  must  plead 
an  excuse  for  imperfect  recollection. 

It  was  some  time  in  the  autumn  of  1804  that  the 
writer  and  a  friend*  started  on  an  excursion  to  visit  some 
small  tracts  of  land  that  were  joint  property  on  the  river 
Lehigh,  in  Northampton  County.  We  went  by  the  way 
of  Allentown,  and,  after  having  crossed  the  Blue  Moun- 
tain, found  ourselves  in  the  evening  unexpectedly  bewil- 
dered in  a  secluded  part  of  the  Mahoning  Valley,  at  a 
distance,  as  we  feared,  from  any  habitation ;  as  the  road 
became  more  narrow,  and  showed  fewer  marks  of  having 
been  used,  winding  among  scrubby  timber  and  under- 
wood. Being  pretty  well  convinced  that  we  had  missed 
our  way,  but,  as  is  usual  with  those  who  are  wrong,  un- 
willing to  retrace  our  steps,  we  nevertheless  checked  our 
horses  about  sunsetting,  to  consider  what  might  be  the 
most  eligible  course.  At  this  precise  period,  we  happily 
saw  emerging  from  the  wood,  no  airy  sprite,  but,  what 
was  much  more  to  our  purpose,  a  good  substantial 
German-looking  woman,  leading  a  cow  laden  with  a  bag 
of  meal  by  a  rope  halter.  Considering  this  as  a  probable 
indication  of  being  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  mill,  we 
ventured  to  address  our  inquiries  to  the  dame,  who,  in  a 
language  curiously  compounded  of  what  might  be  called 

*  Anthony  Morris,  Esq. 


DISCOVERY    OF    ANTHRACITE    COAL.  325 

high  and  low  Dutch,  with  a  spice  of  Enghsh,  made  us 
ultimately  comprehend  that  we  were  not  much  above  a 
mile  distant  from  Philip  Ginter's  mill,  and,  as  there  was 
but  one  road  before  us,  we  could  not  readily  miss  our 
way.  "We  accordingly  proceeded,  and  soon  reached  the 
desired  spot,  where  we  met  with  a  hospitable  reception, 
but  received  the  uncomfortable  intelligence  that  we  were 
considerably  out  of  our  intended  course,  and  should  be 
obliged  to  traverse  a  mountainous  district,  seldom  trodden 
by  the  traveller's  foot,  to  reach  our  destined  port  on  the 
Lehigh,  then  kno\\Ti  by  the  name  of  the  Landing,  but 
since  dignified  with  the  more  classical  appellation  of  Lau- 
sanne. We  were  kindly  furnished  by  our  host  with 
lodgings  in  the  mill,  which  was  kept  going  all  night;  and 
as  the  structure  was  not  of  the  most  firm  and  compact 
character,  we  might  almost  literally  be  said  to  have  been 
rocked  to  sleep.  However,  after  having  been  refreshed 
with  a  night's  rest,  such  as  it  was,  and  taking  breakfast 
with  our  hospitable  landlord,  we  started  on  the  journey 
of  the  day,  preceded  by  Pldlip,  with  his  axe  on  his 
shoulder,  an  implement  necessary  to  remove  the  obstruct- 
ing saplings  that  might  impede  the  passage  of  our  horses, 
if  not  of  ourselves ;  and  these  we  were  under  the  neces- 
sity of  dismounting  and  leading  through  the  bushes  and 
briars  of  the  grown-up  pathway,  if  pathway  had  ever 
really  existed. 

In  the  course  of  our  pilgrimage  we  reached  the  summit 
of  the  Mauch-Chunk  Mountain,  the  present  site  of  the 
mine  or  rather  quarry  of  Anthracite  Coal ;  at  that  time 
there  were  only  to  be  seen  three  or  four  small  pits,  which 


326  AN     ACCOUNT    OF    THE 

had  niucli  tlic  appearance  of  the  commencement  of  rude 
wells,  into  one  of  wliicli  our  guide  descended  with  great 
ease,  and  threw  up  some  pieces  of  coal  for  our  examiner 
tion;  after  which,  whilst  we  lingered  on  the  spot,  con- 
templating the  wildness  of  the  scene,  honest  Philip 
amused  us  with  the  following  narrative  of  the  original 
discovery  of  this  most  valuable  of  minerals,  now  prom- 
ising, from  its  general  diffusion,  so  much  of  wealth  and 
comfort  to  a  great  portion  of  Pennsylvania. 

He  said,  when  he  first  took  up  his  residence  in  that 
district  of  country,  he  built  for  himself  a  rough  cabin  in 
the  forest,  and  supported  his  family  by  the  proceeds  of  his 
rifle,  being  literally  a  hunter  of  the  backwoods.  The 
game  he  shot,  including  bear  and  deer,  he  carried  to  the 
nearest  store,  and  exchanged  for  the  other  necessaries  of 
life.  But,  at  the  particular  time  to  which  he  then  alluded, 
he  was  without  a  supply  of  food  for  his  family,  and  after 
being  out  all  day  with  his  gun  in  quest  of  it,  he  was 
returning  toAvards  evening  over  the  Maucli  Chunh  Moun- 
tain, entirely  unsuccessful  and  dispirited,  having  shot 
nothing ;  a  drizzling  rain  beginning  to  fall,  and  the  dusky 
night  approaching,  he  bent  his  course  homeward,  con- 
sidering himself  as  one  of  the  most  forsalien  of  human 
beings.  As  he  trod  slowly  over  the  gromid,  his  foot 
stumbled  against  something  which,  b}^  the  stroke,  was 
driven  before  him ;  observing  it  to  be  hJciQlc — to  distinguish 
which  there  was  just  light  enough  remaining  —  he  took 
it  up,  and  as  he  had  often  listened  to  the  traditions  of  the 
country  of  the  existence  of  coal  in  the  vicinity,  it  occurred 
to  him  that  this  perhaps  might  be  a  portion  of  that  "stone- 


DISCOVERY    OF    ANTHRACITE    COAL.         327 

coal "  of  which  he  had  heard.  He  accordingly  carefully 
took  it  with  him  to  his  cabin,  and  the  next  day  carried  it 
to  Colonel  Jacob  Weiss,  residing  at  what  was  then  known 
by  the  name  of  Fort  Allen.  The  colonel,  who  was  ahve 
to  the  subject,  brought  the  specimen  immediately  with 
him  to  Philadelphia,  and  submitted  it  to  the  inspection 
of  John  Nicholson  and  Michael  Hillegas,  Esqs.,  and 
Charles  Cist,  an  intelligent  printer,  who  ascertained  its 
nature  and  qualifications,  and'  authorized  the  colonel  to 
satisfy  Ginter  for  his  discovery,  upon  his  pointing  out  the 
precise  spot  where  he  found  the  coal.  This  was  done  by 
acceding  to  Ginter's  proposal  of  getting  through  the  forms 
of  the  patent^office  the  title  for  a  small  tract  of  land  which 
he  supposed  had  never  been  taken  up,  comprising  a  mill- 
seat,  on  which  he  afterwards  built  the  mill  which  afforded 
us  the  lodging  of  the  preceding  night,  and  which  he  after- 
wards was  unhappily  deprived  of  by  the  claim  of  a  prior 
survey.t 

Hillegas,  Cist,  "Weiss,  and  some  others,  immediate!}^ 
after  (about  the  beginning  of  the  year  1792)  formed 
themselves  into  what  was  called  the  "  Lehigh  Coal  Mine 
Company,"  but  without  a  charter  of  incorporation,  and 
took  up  about  eight  or  ten  thousand  acres  of,  till  then, 
unlocated  land,  including  the  Mauch  Chunk  Mountain, 
but  probably  never  worked  the  mine. 

It  remained  in  this  neglected  state,  being  only  used  by 
the  blacksmiths  and  people  in  the  immediate  vicinity, 
until  somewhere  about  the  year  1806,  when  William 
Turnbull,  Esq.,  had  an  ark  constructed  at  Lausanne, 
which  brought  down  two  or  three  hundred  bushels.    This 


328 


AN    ACCOUNT    OF    THE 


was  sold  to  tlic  manager  of  the  water-works  for  the  use 
of  the  Centre-Square  steam-engine.  It  was  there  tried  as 
an  experiment,  but  ultimately  rejected  as  unmanageable, 
and  its  character  for  the  time  being  blasted,  the  further 
attempts  at  introducing  it  to  public  notice,  in  this  way, 
seemed  suspended. 

During  the  last  war,  J.  Cist  (the  son  of  the  printer), 
Charles  Miner,  and  J.  A.  Chapman,  tempted  by  the  high 
price  of  bituminous  coal,  made  an  attempt  to  work  the  mine, 
and  probably  would  have  succeeded,  had  not  the  peace 
reduced  the  price  of  the  article  too  low  for  competition. 

The  operations  and  success  of  the  present  Lehigh  Coal 
and  Navigation  Company  must  be  well  known  to  the 
Society;  the  writer  will  therefore  close  this  communi- 
cation by  stating,  that  he  commenced  burning  the  An- 
thracite Coal  in  the  winter  of  1804,  and  has  continued 
its  use  ever  since,  believing,  from  his  own  experience  of  its 
utiHty,  that  it  would  ultimately  become  the  geneftil  fuel 

of  this  as  well  as  some  other  cities. 

T.  C.  J 
Philada.,  April  Uth,  1826. 

The  following  shows  the  quantity  of  coal  sent  from 
Mauch-Chunk  to  Philadelphia  by  water  in  the  years 
specified,  viz. 

16,000  bushels. 
32,000      do 


In  1820 
1821 
1822 
1823 
1824 
1825 


80,000 
230,000 
500,000 
516,236 


do 
do 
do 
do 


DISCOVERY     OF     ANTHRACITE     COAL. 


!29 


In  half  the  season,  up  to  August  10th,  1826,  there 
descended  to  Philadelphia  20,260  tons,  equal  to  567,280 
bushels,  which  is  a  greater  amount  by  51,011  bushels 
than  descended  in  the  wlwle  of  the  year  1825. 

During  the  last  year,  750,000  bushels  have  been  actually 
sold  by  the  company,  as  the  writer  is  informed  by  the 
secretary  of  the  company. 

Note. — The  subjoined  table  shows  the  tonnage  of  the  Lehigh  coal 
region  from  1820  to  1863. 


YEAR. 

TONS. 

TEAR. 

TONS. 

1820 

365 

1842 

272,546 

1821 

1,073 

1843 

267,793 

1822 

2,240 

1844 

377,002 

1823 

5,823 

1845 

429,453 

1824 

9,541 

1846 

517,116 

1825 

28,393 

1847 

633,507 

1826 

31,280 

1848 

670,321 

1827 

32,074 

1849 

781,656 

1828 

30,232 

1850 

690,456 

1829 

25,110 

1851 

964,224 

1830 

41,750 

1852 

1,072,136 

1831 

40,966 

1853 

1,054,309 

1832 

70,000 

1854 

1,207,186 

1833 

123,000 

1855 

1,275,050 

1834 

106,244 

1856 

1,186,230 

1835 

131,250 

1857 

900,314 

1836 

148,211 

1858 

909,000 

1837 

223,902 

1859 

1,050,659 

1838 

213,615 

1860 

1,009,032 

1839 

221,025 

1861 

994,705 

1840 

225,318 

1862 

396,227 

1841 

143,037 

1863 

699,558 

The  total  tonnage  from  the  three  anthracite  coal  fields  amounted  in 
1863  to  9,420,135  tons.  (See  PotUviUe  Miners  Journal,  of  January 
23, 1864.)  The  following  additional  particulars  concerning  the  develop- 
ment of  the  coal  region  of  the  Lehigh,  and  which  arc  derived  from 


330  AN     ACCOUNT     OF     THE 

a  Mi'innir  of  Josiali  "Wliito  by  ^Ir.  S.  W.  KolK-rts,  may  bo  found  not 
uniiiterestinf^. 

"  Experiments  witli  anthracite  coal  had  been  made  at  the  wire- 
mill  at  the  Falls,  owned  by  Josiah  AVhite,  Joseph  Gillingham,  and 
Erskino  Hazard;  and  when  the  Schuylkill  Navij^ation  Company  was 
chartered,  in  1815,  Josiah  White  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  enter- 
prise ;  but  not  being  able  to  agree  in  opinion  with  the  gentlemen  who 
had  the  control  of  the  company,  he  told  them  that  he  would  have  no 
more  to  do  with  it,  and  Avould  go  and  set  up  a  rival  improvement 
upon  the  Lehigh.  They  ridiculed  the  idea,  and  thought  that  he  was 
much  more  likely  to  ruin  himself  than  to  build  up  a  rival  to  them. 

"Ycry  liberal  legislation  was  obtained,  giving  the  control  of  the 
Lehigh  River  to  Josiah  White,  Erskine  Hazard,  and  G.  F.  A.  Ilauto, 
with  the  powers  of  an  internal  improvement  company.  The  first  and 
second  of  the  partners  had  long  been  associates  and  intimate  friends. 
*  *  *  A  large  body  of  wild  lands,  containing  an  immense  amount  of 
anthracite  coal,  having  been  purchased  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mauch 
Chunk,  operations  were  commenced  in  1818  to  improve  the  river  and 
to  start  the  Lehigh  coal  trade.  It  was  found  to  be  a  much  more 
serioiis  and  expensive  undertaking  than  had  been  anticipated.  The 
Lehigh  is  a  large  stream,  having  a  great  deal  of  fall,  and  a  very 
rocky  bottom.  The  channels  were  crooked  and  intricate,  and  the 
fall  was  so  great  that  when  the  river  was  low  there  was  no  naviga- 
tion whatever.  Messrs.  White  and  Hazard  were  their  own 
engineers.  They  waded  in  the  stream  ;  they  sounded  the  channels ; 
they  took  the  levels  of  the  rapids ;  they  directed  the  blasting  of  the 
rocks,  the  building  of  the  wing  dams,  and  the  removal  of  the  bars. 
But  something  more  was  needed  to  make  a  good  descending  naviga- 
tion, and  this  was  effected  by  means  of  a  system  of  flushing,  called 
"  artificial  freshets."  *  *  *  The  coal  was  then  brought  down  the  rivers 
Lehigh  and  Delaware  to  Philadelphia,  in  arks  roughly  built  of  white 
pine  plank  and  boards,  which  lumber  was  sold  after  the  coal  was 
unloaded.  These  arks  were  nearly  square,  and  several  of  them 
were  fastened  together  in  a  line  by  means  of  iron  hinges,  so  as  to 
maJce  a  long  flexible  boat,  which  would  float  safely  in  rough  water, 
and  was  steered  by  a  long  oar  at  each  end. 

"  By  means  of  this  descending  navigation  the  LeWgh  coal  trade 
was  started  in  1820,  two  years  in  advance  of  that  on  the  Schuylkill 
navigation ;  and  the  coal  continued  to  be  carried  in  arks  until  after 
the  Lehigh  Canal  was  constructed  and  ready  for  use.  The  practical 
limit  of  the  capacity  of  the  descending  navigation  was  found  to  be 


DISCOVERT     OF     ANTHRACITE     COAL.         331 

about  30,000  tons  per  annum,  which  was  then  considered  to  be  a 
large  trade.  The  consumption  of  lumber  in  building  coal  arks  was 
very  large,  and  numerous  saw-mills  were  built  to  furnish  it.  The 
coal  was  hauled  in  wagons  from  the  Summit  Mines,  then  worked  as 
an  open  quarry,  to  Mauch  Chunk,  nearly  nine  miles,  on  a  turnpike 
road,  built  with  a  descending  grade.  The  anthracite  coal  trade  of 
Pennsylvania,  thus  started  by  Josiah  White  and  his  partner,  Erskine 
Hazard,  in  1820,  when  365  tons  were  sent  to  market,  has  grown  to 
the  immense  aggregate  of  7,^00,000  tons  in  1859,  and  it  has  conferred 
incalculable  benefits  upon  the  commonwealth. 

"As  a  large  capital  was  required  for  extended  operations,  a  charter 
was  obtained  in  1822  for  the  Lehigh  Coal  and  T^avigation  Company, 
and  the  rights  of  Messrs.  White  and  Hazard  were  transferred  by  them 
to  the  new  corporation  for  a  large  amount  of  its  stock,  they  continuing 
to  be  its  acting  managers  and  engineers.  In  the  spring  of  182t, 
they  laid  a  railroad,  nine  miles  long,  from  the  mines  to  Mauch  Chunk, 
mostly  on  the  bed  of  the  old  turnpike ;  which  was  the  first  railroad  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  first  in  the  United  States,  except  a  much 
shorter  road  from  a  granite  quarry  in  Massachusetts.  On  the  Mauch 
Chunk  Railroad  the  loaded  coal  cars  ran  down  to  the  river  by 
gravity,  and  were  hauled  back  when  empty  by  mules.  This  pioneer 
railroad  was  considered  to  be  a  great  curiosity,  and  attracted  crowds 
of  visitors  to  see  it. 

"In  182T,  after  the  railroad  was  made,  the  construction  of  the 
Lehigh  Canal  and  ascending  navigation  was  vigorously  undertaken, 
under  the  supervision  of  Canvass  White,  who  was  a  scientific  civil 
engineer,  and  had  been  in  charge  of  the  construction  of  the  eastern 
division  of  the  Erie  Canal  of  New  York.  Josiah  White  had  much 
to  do  with  the  planning  of  the  new  works ;  and  he  especially  insisted 
on  the  locks  being  large,  the  canals  wide  and  deep,  and  the  bed  of 
the  river  being  used  in  many  places  for  the  boat  channel.  Thus  the 
Lehigh  Company  was  saved  the  enormous  cost  of  a  general  enlarge- 
ment of  its  works,  which  has  had  to  be  encountered  by  so  many  other 
companies  to  meet  the  competition  of  rival  lines.  The  canal  from 
Mauch  Chunk  to  Easton,  forty-six  miles,  was  opened  in  1829." 

In  a  paper  written  by  Mr.  Erskine  Hazard,  entitled  a  History  of 
the  Introduction  of  Anthracite  Coal,  vol.  ii.,  p.  155,  of  Memoirs  of 
Society,  some  interesting  facts  are  stated.  —  Editor. 


SOME    EXTRACTS 

FROM 

PAPERS    IN    THE    OFFICE 

OF    THE 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 
AT  HARRISBURG, 

AND  FROM   OTHER   DOCUMENTS. 

TRANSCRIBED 

BY   REDMOND    CONYNGHAM,  ESQ. 

OP  OARUSLE, 

AND   COMMUNICATED   BY   HIM   TO   THE   SOCIETY. 


Read  at  a  Meeting  of  the  Council,  March  15,  1826. 


(333) 


SOME    EXTEACTS,   ETC. 


NOTES   OF   SOME   PRINCIPAL  OR   CURIOUS  EVENTS. 

1682.  William  Penn  visited  Sliackamaxon,  held  fre- 
quent conferences  with  the  Indians,  and  here  laid  the 
foundation  of  that  regard  and  friendship  which  they  ever 
afterwards  evinced.  It  was  by  his  residence  in  Sliacka- 
maxon (now  Kensington),  that  he  was  enabled  from 
actual  observation  to  describe  the  Indian  character.  (See 
letter  dated  August  16th,  1683.) 

William  Penn  held  his  most  important  interview  with 
the  Indian  chiefs  under  the  shade  of  the  great  elm,  on  the 
14th  of  October,  1682. 

1746.  Abraham  Shalley,  keep,  r  of  the  workhouse  in 
the  city  of  Philadel])hia,  was  paid  by  the  government  for 
dieting  a  Spanish  friar  sixty-three  days. 

Many  of  the  emigrants  from  England  were  induced  to 
take  their  proportions  of  British  purchasers  on  the  west 
side  of  Schuylkill,  thinking  that  the  Schuylkill  front 
would  be  found  on  experience  the  most  safe  and  conve- 
nient;   but  the  traders  afterwards  ascertained  that  the 

(335) 


S-^G       00 NTN Guam's  historical  notes. 

Delaware,  on  account  of  its  size  and  dcptli,  held  forth 
much  stronger  inducements  for  settlement,  and  they, 
therefore,  applied  for  an  abatement  in  the  price  of  their 
lands. 

1749.  It  is  remarkable  that  in  this  year  there  was  but 
one  house  in  Reading,  and  in  1752  it  contained  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  dwelling-houses,  forty-one  stables,  anr],  one 
hundred  and  six  families,  consisting  of  three  hundred  and 
seventy-eight  persons. 

The  rapid  improvement  of  this  town  was  owing  to  its 
eligible  site  on  the  Schuylkill  as  a  place  of  trade. 

1755.  The  settlement  at  Great  Cove,  in  the  county  of 
Cumberland,  destroyed  by  the  Indians. 

1757.  William  West  authorized  to  establish  a  post  be- 
tween Carlisle  and  Philadelphia  once  a  week  if  practicable. 

1757.  Teedyuscung,  on  behalf  of  his  Indian  tribe, 
agreed  with  the  Governor,  as  by  the  treaty  at  Easton, 
that  AVyoming  should  be  allotted  to  them  for  a  residence, 
which  it  should  not  be  lawful  for  them  ever  to  sell,  or  for 
the  proprietaries  to  bu}^  It  was  intended  that  King 
Teedyuscung  and  his  Indians  should  hold  and  enjoy  the 
lands  during  their  lives,  and  their  posterity  after  them. 
Houses  were  put  up  for  them  by  order  of  government. 

1760.  March  17th.  Snow  fell  four  feet  in  depth. 

1761.  Garrison  at  Fort  Allen  discharged  by  order  of 
the  Governor. 

1765.  Episcopalians  at  Reading  apply  for  a  lottery  to 
build  a  church. 

1767.  Presbyterians  commence  building  a  meeting- 
house in  Lancaster ;  they  apply  for  a  lottery  to  finish  it. 


contngham's  historical  notes.       337 

1768.  In  January,  Frederick  Stump  and  John  Iron- 
cutter  murdered  ten  of  the  friendly  Indians  near  Fort 
Augusta.  The  following  is  a  letter  from  the  Indian 
chief:  — 

"Loving  Brother, 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  from  you  —  I  understand  you  are 
very  much  grieved,  that  tears  run  from  your  eyes  —  with 
my  blanket  I  wipe  away  those  tears  —  if  your  heart  be 
not  at  ease  I  will  make  it  tranquil — now  shall  I  sit  down 
again  and  smoke  my  pipe  —  I  hold  one  end  of  the  chain 
of  friendship  —  if  my  brother  let  go  the  other  end  I  will 
let  my  end  fall,  but  not  until  then  —  four  of  my  blood 
have  been  murdered  —  let  Stump  die  —  your  people  are 
good  —  Stump  only  possesses  the  evil  spirit — let  then  the 
people  on  Juniata  remain  at  peace  —  danger  is  not  abroad 
—  the  Red  Men  are  at  rest. 

"  Your  loving  brother, 

"  SHA WANA  BEN." 

From  the  Big  Island,  to  Capt.  Patterson,  at  Juniata. 

1767,  Instances  of  Longevity.  This  year  died  Edward 
Norris,  in  Virginia,  aged  103.  He  was  seventy  years 
pilot  within  the  Capes. 

In  Maryland,  Francis  Ange,  aged  134  years.  He  re^ 
membered  the  death  of  Charles  the  First ;  at  the  age  of 
130  was  in  perfect  health;  and  at  the  time  of  his  death 
his  faculties  were  perfect  ana  memory  strong. 

Died  in  Pennsylvania,  aged  85,  John  Key.     William 

22 


338      conynguam's  historical  notes. 

Penn  gave  him  a  lot  of  ground  in  compliment  of  his  being 
the  first  born  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

This  year  was  also  remarkable  for  the  mortality  among 
horses,  which  prevailed  throughout  the  British  provinces. 

Bethlehem  and  Nazareth. 

In  the  year  1744,  the  Rev.  George  Whitfield,  on  his 
return  to  Pennsylvania  from  Savannah,  was  desirous  of 
forming  a  settlement  of  free  blacks  in  the  interior  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  he  accordingly  purchased  two  tracts 
of  land,  each  containing  four  thousand  acres ;  but  after 
having  made  the  purchase,  finding  the  white  population 
mifriendly  to  his  views,  he  disposed  of  the  land  to  the 
United  Brethren,  who,  in  the  year  1743,  held  worship  in 
a  stable  erected  by  Whitfield,  and  from  that  circum- 
stance called  the  place  Bethlehem.  This  tract  is  about 
one  quarter  of  a  mile  wide  on  each  side  of  the  clear  white 
waters  of  the  Leehai.  On  the  other  tract  they  built  a 
town  called  Nazareth,  nine  miles  distant. 

The  European  settlers  were  in  those  days  few  and 
thinly  scattered  around  them. 

Singular  Rules  Observed  by  the  Moravians. 

The  adult  unmarried  men,  and  boys  upwards  of  twelve 
years  of  age,  in  the  settlement  of  the  United  Brethren 
live  mostly  together  in  a  house  called  "  The  Choir-house 
of  the  Single  Brethren."  Thus  also  the  adult  unmarried 
women,  and  girls  upwards  of  twelve  years  of  age,  inhabit 


CONYNGHAMS    HISTORICAL    NOTES.         339 

"The  Choir-house  of  the  Single  Sisters."  There  are 
Choir-houses  for  widows  and  widowers. 

Marriages  in  the  congregation  of  the  United  Brethren 
are  made  by  general  agreement,  with  the  advice  and 
approbation  of  the  elders  of  the  congregation.  When- 
ever a  Brother  wishes  to  marry,  he  in  the  first  instance 
signifies  his  intention  to  the  elders.  If  they  have  no 
objection,  his  proposal  is  submitted  to  the  Lot.  If  the 
question  proves  affirmative,  and  the  sister  proposed  and 
her  parents  all  give  their  aj^probation,  the  wedding  is 
performed. 

At  the  baptism  of  children,  both  the  witnesses  and  the 
minister  bless  the  infant  with  laying  on  of  hands. 

The  pedilavium,  or  w^ashing  of  feet,  is  used  by  some, 
agreeably  to  the  command  of  Christ,  "  Ye  also  ought  to 
wash  one  another's  feet." 

The  most  singular  custom  is  the  assembling  of  the  con- 
gregation in  their  respective  burying-grounds  on  Easter 
morning  at  sunrise,  when  the  Litany  is  performed. 

The  school  at  Bethlehem  is  for  girls ;  that  at  Nazareth 
for  boys. 

The  United  Brethren  are  remarkable  for  their  honest 
simplicity  of  manners,  industry,  economj^,  and  neatness 
in  their  habitations ;  kind  and  affectionate  to  each  other, 
living  as  brothers  and  sisters.  They  are  considered  a 
great  acquisition  to  the  province. 

*^*  I  have  taken  the  above  from  documents  in  my  possession. 


340       conyngham's   historical   notes. 


INDIAN    SPEECHES,    ETC. 

1.   To  Sir  William  Keith. 

1724.  Indian  Chief. — "  Father,  when  Onas  landed,  we 
formed  perpetual  friendship  —  he  gave  us  land  on  the 
Brandy  wine — we  cannot  take  away  our  corn — the  white 
men  have  sat  down  amongst  it  —  they  haVe  stopt  up  the 
river  —  we  are  poor  —  we  fish  —  we  hunt  —  when  the 
men  hunt,  the  women  and  children  take  their  bows  and 
arrows  and  kill  the  fish  in  the  shallow  stream — the  water 
is  dark  and  deep  —  Father,  we  ask  you  to  tell  the  white 
men  to  pull  away  the  dams,  that  the  water  may  flow  — 
that  the  fish  may  swim." 

2.  Conoquiescon's  Speech,  in  1770. 

"  "We  delight  not  in  war  —  we  love  peace  —  our  people 
have  been  robbed  and  murdered,  and  no  reparation  —  we 
receive  wrong,  and  no  reparation  —  if  the  aged  warrior  is 
silent  the  young  will  speak  —  revenge  cannot  be  still  — 
hurt  those  who  hurt  us  —  you  told  us  we  should  fish  and 
hunt  in  peace  —  open  our  eyes  that  we  may  see  those 
good  things." 

3.  A  Cayuga  Chief  — 1771. 

"  When  in  the  wigwam,  we  think  of  3'ou  —  we  Know 
the  road  we  have  travelled  and  the  path  we  have  walked 
together — it  is  the  road  of  love  —  it  is  the  path  of  friend- 


contngham's  historical  notes.       341 

ship  —  we  have  come  in  safety  —  we  see  the  old  Council 
Fire  which  was  kindled  by  our  fathers  —  it  burns  bright 
and  clear  —  clear  your  eyes  that  you  may  see  us  —  open 
your  mouths  —  whiten  your  hearts  —  unfasten  your  ears 
—  hearken  —  the  first  fire  burned  clear  and  bright  — 
another  fire  has  been  kindled — but  both  are  gone  out  and 
the  path  to  our  brothers  was  difficult  to  find — our  fathers 
held  the  chain  of  friendship — evil  men  have  tried  to  break 
it,  but  we  hold  it  fast  —  we  looked  at  "Wyoming  —  we  saw 
white  men  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  —  what  do  they  do 
there  ? — we  did  not  give  them  the  land — who  are  we  ? — 
we  are  Shawanese,  Delawares,  Mohicans,  Nantikokes,  and 
Conoys — ^we  gave  the  land  to  Onas — Onas  gave  us  a  Httle 
spot  on  which  we  might  rest." 

STiaicana  Ben  spoke  as  follows  : 

"  We  were  told  when  we  were  tired  of  our  land  we  might 
leave  it ;  we  are  tired,  we  wish  to  sell  it.  We  are  tired 
of  the  Big  Island.  Our  tomahawks  and  our  muskets  are 
dark, — make  them  brighter.  Some  of  us '  are  old, — give 
them  horses.  Brothers,  let  us  now  go  back  in  peace,  as 
we  have  had  our  talk." 

Note. — The  Cayuga  warrior  alludes  to  the  settlement  of  the  Yalley 
of  Wyoming  by  people  from  New  England. 

*;,.*  The  foregoing  were  copied  from  original  manuscripts  in  the 
Office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth. 

4.  Council  at  Easton. 

1759.  October  11th.     The  Indian  Chiefs  and  Governor 
Bernard  and  Governor  Denny  in  Council. 


342       CON YNG ham's    historical    notes. 

Moliawks,  Oncidas,  Oiiondagocs,  Cajugas,  Senecas,  TuBca- 
roroes,  Nanticokes,  Coiioys,  Tuteloes,  Chugants,  Delar 
wares,  Unainines,  Munseys,  Mohicons,  Wappingers. 

Teedyuscung.  —  "I  called,  —  the  Indians  have  come. 
Speak,  and  they  will  hear, — sit  and  talk.  I  will  sit, 
hear,  and  see." 

Tohaaio,  Chief  of  the  Cayugas. — "  I  speak  for  the  Cayu- 
gas,  Oneidas,  Tuscaroroes,  Tuteloes,  Nanticokes,  and 
Conoys.  A  road  has  been  opened  for  us  to  this  Council 
Fire.  Blood  has  been  spilt  upon  that  road, — by  this  belt 
I  wipe  away  that  blood.  I  take  the  tomahawk  from  off 
your  heads." 

Nichas  then  spoke. — "  Teedyuscung  has  said  he  is  our 
chief, — we  know  him  not.  K  he  be  our  king,  who  made 
him  so  ?  have  you  done  it  ?     Say  yes  or  no."  j 

TagasJiata. — "  We  know  not  who  made  him  our  king." 

Assarandongucts. — "  No  such  thing  was  ever  said  in  our 
wigAvam  that  Teedyuscung  was  our  king." 

Henry  King. —  "I  speak  for  the  Oneidas,  Cayugas, 
Tuscaroras,  Nanticokes,  and  Conoys.  We  say  boldly  he 
is  not  our  king." 

Governor  Denny. — "  You  say  that  Teedyuscung  said  he 
was  your  king, — he  met  us  in  the  Council  Fire  at  this 
place  last  year, — we  considered  him  your  representative, 
not  your  king, — he  said  he  was  not  your  king, — he  called 
the  Six  Nations  his  uncles." 

Governor  Bernard. — "  I  do  not  know  that  Teedyuscung 
is  a  greater  man  than  any  of  your  chiefs." 

Teedyuscung  now  spoke. — ''  You  placed  us  at  Shamokin 


contngham's   historical   notes.       343 

and  Wyoming — ^you  have  sold  that  land — I  sit  like  a 
bird  upon  a  bough — I  look  around  and  know  not  where 
I  may  take  my  rest — let  me  come  down  and  make  that 
land  my  own  that  I  may  have  a  home  forever." 

Gacernoi'  Benny. — "  We  will  settle  matters." 

Nichas  spoke. — "  Settle  matters — those  things  are  in 
the  dark — place  them  in  the  light — the  proprietaries 
have  our  deeds,  show  them  to  us  and  we  will  know  our 
marks." 

Governor  Bernard  then  said  he  had  something  to  say. 

Tagashata  said,  "  One  Governor  at  a  time — we  will  not 
hear  both  speak." 

A  deed  being  produced — 

Nichas  again  spoke. — "This  deed  we  remember — we 
sold  the  land — the  land  was  our  own — all  things  are 
right." 

A  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Council  then  observed — 
"  Teedyuscung  asks  us  to  make  you  owners  of  the  lands 
at  Wiomink  and  Shamoking — we  have  no  power  to  sell 
those  lands — your  request  shall  be  laid  before  the  pro- 
prietary." 

Teedyuscung  replied,  "  Onas  will  grant  our  request — ^we 
trust  in  him — we  know  him — he  loves  justice — we  are 
satisfied." 

*;^.*  The  above  is  taken  from  a  rough  draught  in  the  Office  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth. 


344       conyngham's   uistorical   notes. 


5.  "Warriors  of  Oneida  to  the  Chief  Warrior  op 

Arahoctea,  1777. 

Sucknagearat,  White  Skin,  and  Ojestatara,  Grass- 
hopper : — 

"  Good  news — great  news — the  EngUsh  warriors  who 
were  to  have  made  a  wide  road  through  the  woods  have 
fallen  into  a  deer  trap — this  is  war — those  who  hold  up 
their  heads  like  the  pine  of  the  wood  are  soonest  laid  low 
by  the  storm — it  is  true — it  is  right — we  rejoice,  it  makes 
glad  our  hearts." 

6.  Warrior  of  Onondago  to  the  Chief  Warrior  op 

Arahoctea. 

Telle  wgwe  ah  ten,  chief  warrior  of  Onondago  : — 
"  Your  voice  has  come  upon  our  ears — your  belt  has 
brought  the  good  news — we  rejoice  in  your  success — the 
English  were  strong  but  now  weak — ^we  rejoice — we  knew 
they  would  fall — he  held  up  his  head  above  our  warriors 
— he  treated  our  brothers  with  contempt — he  told  us 
what  he  would  do — he  laughed  at  our  brothers  as  little 
men. 

"  He  sent  his  warrior  to  Fort  Schuyler — they  held  up 
their  heads  too  high  —  too  high  —  'that  they  would 
trample  all  down  before  them,  and  at  first  sight  of  them 
the  fort  would  vanish.'  These  high  heads  now  lay  low — 
pride  is  punished — ^it  is  right. 


contngham's   historical   notes.       345 

"  Brothers,  we  have  sent  your  belt  of  good  news  to  the 
Cayugas  and  Senecas — it  flies  on  feet  and  on  horse — it 
spreads  far — it  will  reach  Niagara — brothers,  we  have 
done,  we  wish  you  success." 


These  foregoing  were  made  to  General  Gates,  on  hear- 
ing of  the  capture  of  General  Burgoyne. 


7.  Speech  of  Kiashuta,  the  Mingo  Chief,  at  Fort  Pitt, 
July  Qth,  1776. 

^^Brothers — I  went  to  the  great  Council  at  Niagara — I 
was  stopt  at  Cannywagoe — the  General  sent  to  the  Red 
Men  not  to  come  '  till  he  should  come  from  Detroit' — eight 
hundred  warriors  were  with  me  at  Cannywagoe — news 
came  to  our  ears  the  Council  Fire  had  gone  out,  but  we 
went  to  Niagara — I  opened  my  mouth — I  had  come  far — 
I  was  weary — he  told  me — he  could  not  sit — he  could 
not  talk. — Brother — We  will  not  let  the  English  through 
our  hunting-grounds — should  they  attempt  it — we  raise 
the  tomahawk — ^we  sharpen  our  knives — I  command  the 
west  side  of  the  Ohio — no  white  man  shall  cross  our 
hunting-grounds — if  any  mischief  be  done — lay  not  the 
blame  on  the  old  wild  cat  of  the  forest — but  on  the  active 
fawn — blame  not  the  aged  warrior  who  is  still,  but  the 
young  who  is  like  a  kitten." 

Kiaschuta  then  turned  to  Captain  Pipe,  a  Delaware 
Chief— 

"Be   strong — be  firm — be  on   your   feet — darken   not 


o  1  G  C  0  N  Y  N  rni  A  M '  S     HISTORICAL     NOTES. 

your  eyes — lot  iliom  sliine — tlirow  not  tlie  tomahawk — 
raise  not  the  knife — let  the  whites  cut  the  string  of 
friendship — but  until  they  cut  it  we  will  hold  it  fust — we 
rejoice  the  Council  Fire  has  not  gone  out — brother,  we 
desire  to  keep  the  hatchet  buried — we  desire  peace — I 
have  had  my  talk — give  me  tobacco,  I  will  sit  and 
smoke." 


CONTRIBUTIONS 


THE  MEDICAL  HISTORY 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


BY    CASPAR    MORRIS,    M.D. 


Bead  before  the  Medical  Committee,  5th  Month,  22d,  1826. 

(347> 


CONTRIBUTIONS,   ETC. 


Although  it  is  with  feelings  of  diffidence  I  have 
ventured  this  evening  to  address  you,  I  shall  not  attempt 
to  apologize,  since  it  is  done  in  the  hope  to  form  a  start- 
ing point,  and  encourage  others,  better  qualified  than  my- 
self, to  come  forward,  rather  than  from  any  expectation 
of  being  able  to  contribute  materially  either  to  your 
instruction  or  amusement.  From  the  many  subjects 
demanding  investigation,  which  have  been  allotted  to  us 
by  the  Society,  I  have  selected  one  which  is  involved  in 
much  obscurity,  and  have  collected  such  facts  in  con- 
nection with  it  as  circumstances  have  placed  in  my 
power. 

Considerable  difficulty  must,  necessarily,  attend  any 
attempt  to  elucidate  the  early  Medical  History  of  this 
country  ;  as  but  few  physicians  capable  of  transmitting  to 
posterity  an  account  of  the  diseases  they  were  obliged  to 
encounter  and  the  means  found  most  effectual  to  their 
relief,  would  be  willing  to  forego  the  comforts  and  advan- 
tages of  civilized  society,  to  plunge  into  the  dangers  and 
difficulties  attendant  on  an  attempt  to  people  the  wilder- 

(349) 


350  morris's   contributions 

ness,  and  l)ring  the  forest  under  cultivation  :  and  though, 
from  peculiar  circumstances  attending  the  settlement  of 
this  colony,  Pennsylvania  seems  to  have  enjoyed  the 
gkill  of  several  accomplished  and  well-educated  physi- 
cians, I  am  not  able  to  trace  a  single  paragraph,  now 
extant,  in  which  they  have  attempted  to  detail  either 
theory  or  practice,  prior  to  the  year  1740.  It  is  true 
that  the  same  rage  for  book-making  did  not  then  exist  as 
at  present,  and  no  periodical  journal  offered  its  pages  for 
short  essays,  such  as  men  engaged  in  extensive  practice 
can  find  time  to  compose :  and  most  probably  could  we 
have  access  to  private  letters  written  to  their  friends  at 
home,  we  might  there  find  much  information.  For  the 
facts  contained  in  the  following  essay,  I  am  indebted  to 
traditionary  report  and  notes  made  in  desultory  reading. 
From  a  letter  kindly  loaned  me  by  my  friend,  Dr.  James, 
received  by  him  from  John  F.  Watson,  of  Germantown,  I 
have  derived  some  hints  with  which  he  shall  be  credited 
as  they  are  mentioned.  Prior  to  the  arrival  of  William 
Penn,  in  1682,  even  tradition  is  pretty  much  silent;  and  I 
am  not  aware  of  there  having  been  any  regular  practitioners 
of  medicine  among  the  Swedes.*  Noah  Webster,  in  his 
book  on  Pestilence,  mentions  that  the  winter  of  1641  was 


*  Among  the  Dutch  on  the  Delaware,  the  names  of  two  "  practi- 
tioners of  medicine"  are  mentioned  in  the  early  records ;  but  whether 
in  our  prcpcnt  acceptation  of  the  term  they  were  "regular  practi- 
tioners," we  are  not  able  to  say. 

Vice-Director  Alrichs,  writing  on  the  25th  of  May,  1657,  from 
Fort  New  Amstcl  (now  New  Castle),  to  the  "  Commissioners  of  the 
Colonic  on  the  Delaware,"  says,  "Mr.  Jan  Costing,  the  surgeon, 
bath  given  in  this  annexed  memorandum  of  necessary  medicines, 


TO     MEDICAL     HISTORY.  351 

very  severe;  and  that  the  Swedes,  and  a  colony  from 
New  Haven,  who  had  settled  among  them,  suffered  very 
much  in  the  following  summer,  but  does  not  say  what 
was  the  disease.  In  1647,  they  again  suffered  from  the 
influenza,  which  passed  from  the  northern  to  the  southern 
extremity  of  this  continent,  and  is  the  first  epidemic  of 
the  kind  mentioned  in  our  history.  "  Such  as  bled,  or 
used  cooling  drinks,  died ;  such  as  used  cordials,  or  more 
strengthening  things,  recovered  for  the  most  part."  In 
the  month  of  June,  1655,  the  whole  continent  was  again 


which,  he  says,  will  not  amount  to  much.     lie  requests  that  they 
will  be  sent  out  by  the  earliest  opportunity."* 

In  again  writing  to  the  same  authorities,  on  the  10th  of  October, 
1658,"}"  he  states,  "  William  Van  Rasenberg,  who  came  over  as 
Surgeon,  puts  forth  sundry  claims  against  the  people  whom  he 
attended  on  the  passage,  inasmuch  as  his  wages  did  not  run  at  the 
time  and  on  the  voyage,  and  he  used  his  own  provisions.  There 
were  on  board  the  ship  considerable  sickness,  accidents,  and  hard- 
ships, in  consequence  of  a  tedious  voyage.  One  hundred  souls 
required  at  least  a  hogshead  or  two  of  French  wine  and  one  of 
brandy,  and  a  tub  of  prunes  had  also  to  be  furnished  for  refreshment 
and  comfort  to  those  sick  of  scurvy  and  suffering  from  other  troubles 
through  the  protracted  voyage ;  for,  from  want  thereof,  the  people 
became  so  low  that  death  followed,  which  is  a  pretty  serious  matter. 
Here,  on  shore,  I  see  clearly  that  the  poor,  weak,  sick,  or  indigent, 
sometimes,  have  need  necessarily  of  this  and  that  to  support  them, 
which  one  cannot  easily  or  will  not  refuse :  though  it  be  sometimes 
but  a  spoonful,  frequently  repeated  it  amounts  to  more  than  is  sup- 
posed. The  barber  also  speaks  of  a  house  which  Master  Jan  occu- 
pied being  too  small  for  him ;  he  hath  a  wife,  servant,  and  child  or 
children  also.  If  he  hire,  as  he  says,  at  the  expense  of  the  city, 
he  shall  be  obliged  to  show  a  paper  to  that  effect.     People's  words, 


*  Documentary   History  of  New  York.      Edited  by  E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  M.D. 
Vol.  II.,  p.  16. 
f  Idem,  55. 


352  morris's   contributions 

vifslted  ])y  tlic  epidemic  catarrh,  which  was  followed  by 
other  fatal  diseases.  "  In  the  year  1668,"  says  Webster, 
"appeared  a  comet  with  a  stupendous  coma;  this  was 
attended  by  an  excessively  hot  summer,  and  malignant 
diseases  in  America." 

With  William  Penn  there  emigrated  two  Welsh  gentle- 
men, Thomas  Wynne  and  Griffith  Owen,  wdio  appear  to 
have  been  regularly  educated  to  the  profession  ;  and 
Wynne  is  said  to  have  practiced  in  London.  They  were 
both  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  were  much 
respected  by  their  fellow  emigrants :  as  we  find  them 
repeatedly  noticed  in  the  history  of  the  times,  and 
Wynne  held  the  office  of  Speaker  of  the  first  Assembly 
of  the  freemen  of  the  province.  Some  doubt  exists  as  to 
whether  they  both  located  themselves  in  the  city ;  and  I 


or  what  tliej  verbally  produce  for  their  own  profit,  cannot  be 
accepted." 

In  a  return  for  monies  paid  for  the  "  Colonic,"  we  find  that  between 
the  18th  of  November,  1659,  and  the  3d  of  November,  1662,  William 
Van  Rasenberg,  Surgeon  in  the  Colonic,  was  the  recipient  of  twelve 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  florins,  as  salary;  and  Evert  Pietersen, 
styled  "  Comforter  of  the  Sick,"  &c.,  of  fourteen  hundred  florins  ;  and 
Arent  Pietersen,  who  bore  the  same  title,  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
florins.* 

In  1658,  Alrichs  writes,  "  Our  actual  situation,  which  is  certainly 
very  distressing,  by  an  ardent  prevailing  fever,  and  other  diseases, 
by  which  the  large  majority  of  the  inhabitants  are  oppressed  and 
broken  down,  besides  that  our  "  barber"  (surgeon)  died,  and  another 
well  acquainted  with  his  profession,  is  very  sick."t  Probably  Costing 
is  referred  to  as  having  died,  and  Van  Rasenberg  as  having  been 
sick.  The  latter  was  living  in  1662,  while  the  former,  in  1660,  is 
styled  "  late  surgeon." — Editor. 


*  Id.    179.  t  Hazard's  Annals,  247. 


TO    MEDICAL    HISTORY.  353 

am  inclined  to  believe  that  Wynne  accompanied  his 
countrymen,  who,  allured  by  the  resemblance  which  the 
tract  of  country  now  forming  the  townships  of  Merion 
and  Haverford  bore  to  their  native  hills,  generally  settled 
west  of  the  Schuylkill.  Though  neither  of  them  has  left 
any  account  of  his  practice,  we  may  be  allowed  the  infer- 
ence, that  with  the  exception  of  the  occasional  epidemics 
to  be  noticed,  surgical,  rather  than  medical  skill,  was  had 
in  requisition.  Of  one  thing  we  are  sure,  that  among  the 
hardy  sons  of  England's  yeomanry,  who  had  thus  aban- 
doned the  comforts  of  home  for  conscience  sake,  they  met 
with  few  diseases  the  result  of  idleness  or  luxurj^  Gene- 
rally speaking,  the  colonists  must  have  enjoyed  good 
health,  as  we  find  Wynne  taking  an  active  part  in 
politics,  and  Owen  travelling  in  the  neighboring  colonies. 
The  winter  of  1697-8,  seems  to  have  been  one  of  unusual 
severity,  and  the  whole  of  the  colonies  again  suffered  from 
influenza ;  which,  to  the  north,  put  on  the  form  (since  so 
well  known)  of  pneumonia  typhoides. 

In  the  month  of  August,  1699,  only  seventeen  years 
after  the  arrival  of  the  proprietor  and  his  first  colonists, 
we  find  the  city  devastated  by  a  malignant  disease,  which 
was  productive  of  distressing  mortality.  It  is  noticed  in 
the  Journals  of  Thomas  Chalkly  and  Thomas  Story, 
Ministers  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  The  latter  was  then 
on  a  religious  visit  to  this  colony,  and  soon  after  received 
the  office  of  Master  of  the  Eolls.  He  does  not  enter  into 
any  detail  as  regards  the  symptoms,  but  notices  the 
number  of  deaths  as  at  one  time  amounting  to  six  or' 

23 


354  morris's   contributions 

eight  daily/''  The  malignant  nature  of  the  disease  may- 
be judged  of  from  the  fact  that  friends  from  the  country 
were  advised  to  come  as  little  as  possible  into  the  city, 
though  the  time  for  holding  the  semi-annual  meeting 
occurred  during  its  prevalence :  and  it  is  noticed  by  the 
pious  narrator,  as  an  evidence  of  the  superintending  care 
of  Providence,  that  during  the  session  of  the  meeting, 
which  continued  several  days,  "  the  plague  was  stayed." 
By  Isaac  Norris,  then  a  merchant  in  Philadelphia,  it  is 
noticed  in  his  correspondence  as  the  "  Barbadoes  Distem- 
per ;"  though  he  says  nothing  of  its  being  imported ;.  and 
the  only  symptoms  he  mentions  are  vomiting  and  voiding 
of  blood.  The  summer  had  been  the  hottest  ever  known, 
men  having  died  suddenly  from  the  heat,  in  the  harvest 
field.  The  disease  commenced  in  the  beginning  of 
August,  and  abated  about  the  22d  of  October,  in  which 
time  two  hundred  and  twenty  persons  had  died.  Dr. 
Wynne  had  been  dead  some  years,  and  the  practitioners 
during  its  prevalence  must  have  been  his  son-in-law.  Dr. 


*  Story,  in  his  Journal,  records  the  event  in  the  following  striking 
language : 

"In  this  distemper  had  died  six,  seven,  and  sometimes  eight  a 
day,  for  several  weeks,  there  being  few  houses,  if  any,  free  of  the 
sickness.  Great  was  the  majesty  and  hand  of  the  Lord !  Great  was 
the  fear  that  fell  on  all  flesh  I  I  saw  no  lofty  or  airy  countenances, 
nor,  heard  any  vain  jesting  to  move  men  to  laughter,  nor  witty  re- 
partee to  move  men  to  mirth,  nor  extravagant  feasting  to  excite  the 
lusts  and  desires  of  the  flesh  above  measure.  But  every  face 
gathered  paleness,  and  many  hearts  were  humbled,  and  countenances 
fallen  and  sunk,  as  such  that  waited  every  moment  to  be  summoned 
to  the  bar  and  numbered  to  the  grave."  (Janney's  Life  of  Penn, 
Ed.  of  1852,  p.  404.)— Editor. 


TO     MEDICAL     HISTORY.  355 

Edward  Jones,  who  accompanied  him  in  his  emigration, 
and  Dr.  Griffith  Owen,  and  perhaps  his  son,  who  com- 
menced practice  about  this  time.  Dr.  Owen  the  elder 
lived  till  the  year  1717:  during  the  latter  years  of  his 
life  he  seems  to  have  relinquished  the  toils  of  practice  to 
his  son,  and  to  have  sought  his  pleasure  in  making  short 
excursions  with  travelhng  ministers,  who  notice  him  in 
their  journals  with  great  respect. 

Connected,  perhaps,  as  much  with  the  present  as  any 
other  branch  of  investigation,  permit  me  here  to  notice  a 
fact  which  has  not,  heretofore,  claimed  attention.  Among 
the  gentlemen  accompanying  Wilham  Penn  on  his  first 
visit  to  this  country  was  one  of  French  extraction,  who, 
proud  to  have  descended  from  the  family  of  the  recluse 
of  Port  Koyal,  and  to  bear  his  honored  name,  had  devoted 
his  time  and  fortune  to  the  study  of  the  abstruse  sciences, 
among  others  alchemy  and  astrology.  Soon  after  his 
arrival,  having  provided  himself  with  the  requisite  appar- 
atus, he  commenced  the  vain  pursuit  after  that  which  has 
deluded  so  many,  the  Pliilosopher's  Stone,  and  its  neces- 
sary accompaniment,  the  Elixir  Vitae.  The  result  need 
not  at  this  day  be  told;  but  among  the  simple  inhabitants 
of  Philadelphia  he  was  regarded  as  one  passing  wise  j  and 
his  secluded  habits,  joined  to  the  verification  of  some 
trifling  predictions  he  ventured  to  make  from  reading  the 
aspects  of  the  stars,  induced  the  supposition,  with  some, 
that  he  had  made  the  dire  compact:  and  such  was  the 
strength  of  this  impression  that  his  house  was  regarded 
as  the  haunt  of  unquiet  spirits,  which  reputation  it  bore 
till  within  a  few  months,  when  it  was  destroyed  to  make 


356  morris's   contributions 

room  for  more  profitable  tenants.  His  children  kept  an 
apothecary's  store,  in  which  they  vended  many  articles 
the  produce  of  their  father's  laboratory.  About  fifty 
years  ago,  an  old  man,  who  recollected  the  gentleman 
referred  to,  narrated  to  one  of  his  descendants  the  forego- 
ing circumstances ;  and,  descanting  largely  on  his  benevo- 
lence, remarked,  "  Ah !  but  he  could  well  afford  to  be 
generous ;  for,  what  was  money  to  him  who  could  turn 
lead  into  gold  ?"  Upon  being  asked  how  he  knew  him  to 
possess  the  power,  he  replied,  "  Surely  he  should  know, 
since  he  had  not  only  seen,  but  j^ossessed,  the  gold  so 
obtained."  Here,  however,  as  elsewhere,  the  time  be- 
stowed on  this  vain  pursuit  seems  not  to  have  been 
thrown  away ;  for,  in  addition  to  the  amusement  it 
afforded  to  one  placed  above  the  necessity  of  manual 
labor,  and  the  benefit  derived  from  the  useful  products 
of  his  alembics,  which,  as  before  stated,  were  sold  to  the 
inhabitants,  one  of  his  sons,  profiting  by  the  knowledge 
derived  from  his  father  and  his  books,  produced,  if  not 
the  Elixir  Vitae,  a  compound,  styled  "  Golden  Drops,"  as 
indicative  of  their  value,  to  this  day  celebrated  in  some 
sections  of  the  country ;  and  which,  if  we  may  credit  one- 
third  the  stories  told  of  it,  has  performed  cures  little  short 
of  miraculous ;  and  be  the  compound  what  it  may,  for  it 
is  still  a  nostrum  in  the  possession  of  one  of  his  descend- 
ants, is  effectual  to  the  relief  of  most  diseases  with  which 
any  members  of  the  family,  who  have  sufficient  faith  in 
its  virtues,  may  be  afilicted.  In  short,  it  is  only  cause  of 
wonder  that  the  court  of  death  has  not,  ere  this,  been  de- 


TO     MEDICAL     HISTORY.  357 

populated,  by  the  annihilation  of  some  of  his  chief  agents 
in  the  work  of  destruction. 

About  the  time  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Owen,  in  1717,  the 
medical  faculty  was  reinforced  by  the  arrival  of  Drs. 
I^earsley  and  Graeme,  who,  with  the  son  of  Dr.  Owen 
and  Dr.  Jones,  son-in-law  of  Wynne,  aided  by  some  two 
or  three  empirics  (who  amassed  considerable  fortunes), 
formed,  I  believe,  the  sole  defence  of  the  city  and  its 
neighborhood  against  the  inroads  of  disease.  Wearisome 
enough  were  the  duties  of  these  gentlemen, — the  settle- 
ments wide  scattered,  the  roads  newly  made,  and  the  means 
of  conveyance  poor.  Dr.  Graeme  seems  to  have  possessed 
a  large  property.  The  house  in  which  he  is  said  to  have 
resided  must  have  been  one  of  "  the  spacious  and  splendid 
mansions"  mentioned  by  some  of  our  older  chroniclers. 
He  occasionally  retired  to  Graeme  Park,  a  handsome  seat 
in  Bucks  County.*  Dr.  Kearsley  soon  acquired  the  entire 
confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens.  During  his  life,  he  was 
active  in  procuring  the  erection  of  Christ's  Church,  one 
of  the  most  venerable  ornaments  of  our  city ;  and,  at  his 
death,  in  the  year  1732,  he  founded  and  endowed  the 
hospital  for  poor  widows  attached  to  the  church.  He  left 
a  nephew,  also  a  physician,  who  became  obnoxious  to  the 
resentment  of  the  Whig  Party,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  Revolution,  and  was  subjected  to  the  cruel  punish- 
ment of  tarring  and  feathering,  then  occasionally  resorted 


*  For  some  notice  of  Doctor  Graeme,  see  note  at  page  459.— 
Editor, 


358  morris's   contributions 

to;  which  so  affected  him  as  to  cause  insanity,  which 
continued  till  his  death. 

Early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  there  emigrated  from 
England  to  Boston,  a  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Zachary, 
who  shortly  after  died,  leaving  an  only  child,  Lloyd 
Zachary,  then  quite  a  hoy,  to  the  care  of  his  uncle  who 
resided  in  Philadelphia,  to  which  place  he  was  removed, 
and  where  he  acquired  that  education  which  enabled  him 
not  only  to  shine  an  ornament  to  his  profession,  but  also 
to  sustain  a  character  unsullied  by  reproach.  Upon  the 
completion  of  his  classical  education,  he  was  placed  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  Kearsley ;  and,  after  acquiring  all  the 
medical  information  he  could  impart,  sailed  for  Europe  in 
the  year  1723,  where  he  spent  three  years,  and  returned 
to  practice  among  his  friends  in  Philadelphia.  Pie  was 
much  beloved,  and  the  interest  he  took  in  the  hospital, 
of  which  he  was  first  physician,  is  sufficiently  indicative 
of  his  philanthropy.  To  it,  whilst  he  was  able,  he 
devoted  his  time  and  talents,  and  at  his  death  left  it  a 
handsome  legacy  in  money  and  books,  thus  contributing 
to  the  establishment  of  one  of  the  many  noble  charities 
for  which  our  city  is  famed.  For  some  years  before  his 
death  he  was  afflicted  with  a  paralysis,  which  carried  him 
to  an  early  grave  much  lamented.  Cotemporary  with 
these  was  the  elder  Shippen,  who  was  born  and  received 
his  entire  education  in  this  city,  where  he  practiced  during 
a  long  series  of  years.  Nor  must  we  pass  in  silence  Dr. 
Thomas  Bond,  who,  about  the  year  1734,  emigrated  from 
Maryland,  fixed  his  residence  in  Philadelphia,  where  he 
soon  acquked  great  reputation.     He  was  associated  with 


TO     MEDICAL     HISTORY.  359 

Dr.  Zacliary  in  the  care  of  the  hospital,  and  delivering 
clinical  lectures  to  the  few  students  of  medicine  which  the 
city  contained  at  the  time  of  its  establishment.  There 
still  remains  to  be  mentioned  a  gentleman  who  practiced 
at  the  time  now  under  re\dew,  and  who  eminently  de- 
serves the  gratitude  of  all  those  who  take  pride  in  the 
scientific  character  of  our  cit}'.  I  allude  to  Dr.  Thomas 
Cadwallader,  the  grandson  of  Wynne.  Not  satisfied  with 
the  information  to  be  gained  at  home  from  the  instruction 
of  Dr.  Jones,  he  spent  some  years  in  Europe,  where  he 
matured  the  knowledge  previously  acquired,  and  fitted 
himself  for  the  distinguished  rank  he  afterward  held  in 
the  city  and  its  vicinity.  The  urbanity  of  his  manners, 
and  his  uncommon  presence  of  mind,  gained  him  many 
friends,  and  form  the  subject  of  many  anecdotes  still 
current  among  the  descendants  of  the  Welsh  families  in 
which  he  practiced.  In  the  year  1740,  he  published  an 
essay  on  the  iliac  passion,  in  which  he  recommends  the 
use  of  mild  cathartics  and  opiates,  in  preference  to  the 
drastic  articles  then  generally  employed.  Unfortunately 
this,  which  is  the  first  book  on  a  medical  subject  printed 
in  America,  is  now  out  of  print,  at  least  so  far  that  I 
have  been  unable  to  procure  a  copy ;  and  I  am  indebted 
for  the  knowledge  that  it  ever  existed  to  an  oration  de- 
livered before  the  Charleston  Medical  Society,  by  the  late 
Dr.  Ramsay.  But  his  claims  to  our  respect  do  not  rest 
here.  Having,  as  before  noticed,  resorted  to  the  Euro- 
pean schools  for  the  perfection  of  that  education  com- 
menced under  the  auspices  of  Dr.  Jones,  he  learned  the 
inestimable   importance   of  anatomical   knowledge ;   and 


360  morris's   contributions 

superior  to  that  petty  jealousy  and  de.sire  to  excel  his 
fellow  practitioners,  which  has  too  often  cast  a  blot  on 
the  fair  escutcheon  of  medicine,  he  resolved  to  impart  the 
knowledge  of  the  human  structure  to  such  of  them  as  had 
not  enjoyed  the  same  opportunity  with  himself  To  this 
end,  he  took  a  house,  which,  from  the  location  given  to  it 
by  tradition,  must  have  belonged  to  that  distinguished 
patron  of  science,  James  Logan,  in  which  he  gave  lessons 
in  practical  anatomy.  Among  others  who  availed  them- 
selves of  this  opportunity  was  the  elder  Shippen,  and  it  is 
most  probable  that  he  here  acquired  those  ideas  of  the 
importance  of  the  study,  which  induced  him  to  press 
upon  his  son  the  propriety  of  making  himself  master  of 
the  science,  in  order  to  the  establishment  of  those  lectures 
he  afterward  so  ably  delivered. 

The  city  seems  occasionally  to  have  suffered  from  the 
prevalence  of  natural  small-pox,  and  consequently  some 
means  for  arresting  its  ravages  early  claimed  attention ; 
and,  in  1731,  inoculation  was  fairly  introduced,  after 
having  struggled  against  the  fears  and  prejudices  of  the 
people  during  nine  years.  Many  attempts  were  made 
during  this  time  to  overcome  the  opposition,  but  ineffect- 
ually. Newspaper  essays,  and  even  sermons,  were  pub- 
lished, denouncing  the  practice  as  irreligious — evidencing 
a  distrust  of  the  care  of  Providence.  J.  F.  Watson,  in 
his  MSS.,  quotes  the  sermon  of  a  gentleman  of  the  name 
of  Maskelyne,  in  which  he  calls  it  "  an  unjustifiable  art, 
and  an  infliction  of  an  evil,  implying  a  distrust  of  God's 
overruling  care,  to  procure  a  possible  future  good."  About 
the  year  1730,  it  seems,  however,  to  have  triumphed,  and 


TO    MEDICAL    HISTORY.  361 

we  find  Kearsley,  Zachary,  Cadwallader,  Sliippen,  and 
Bond  engaged  in  the  practice. 

J.  Growden,  Esq./''  was  the  first  patient  of  note  who 
gave  it  his  countenance,  by  submitting  to  have  the  virus 
inserted  into  his  own  system ;  and  the  first  visit  paid  by 
the  ex-president  Jefierson,  then  a  lad,  to  our  city,  was  in 
order"  to  receive  the  variolous  infection,  and  he  lodged  in 
a  small  cabin  on  the  bank  of  the  Schuylkill,  while  labor- 
ing under  the  disease. f 

In  the  3^ear  intervening  between  December,  1729  and 
'30,  theie  were  interred  in  the  city  two  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  persons  of  various  sects.  An  account  of  the 
number  oi  births  during  the  same  period  would  be  an 
interesting  document. 

In  February,  March,  and  April,  1727,  there  appears 
from  the  bi'ls  of  mortality  to  have  been  an  unusual 
number  of  deaths,  though  I  have  not  been  able  to  find 
any  reference  t^  the  prevalent  disorder;  and  in  1732  the 
whole  country  again  suffered  from  epidemic  catarrh ;  in 
1736-7  the  city  was  afflicted  by  the  occurrence  of  ulcer- 
ated sore  throat. 

Some  time  in  th^  year  1740,  Dr.  Graeme  was  appointed, 
by  the  governor,  physician  to  the  port,  and  was  required 
to  attend  the  crews  of  unhealthy  vessels.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  Dr.  Zachary  was  appointed  to  the  same  station 
by  the  Assembly.  TUs  gave  offence  to  the  governor  and 
council,  who  confirmed  the  former  appointment  of  Graeme, 
and  forbade  Zachary  to  act. 

*  Watson's  MSS.  f  Ibid. 


3G2  morris's  contributions 

The  winter  of  1740-41  was  very  severe,  and  the  suc- 
ceeding summer  the  city  was  visited  by  a  disorder  which 
Noah  Webster  calls  the  American  plague,  and  Dr.  Boni 
says  was  yellow  fever,  but  supposes  it  to  have  been  intro- 
duced by  a  sickly  ship-load  of  convicts  from  the  Dullin 
jail.  Previous  to  this  it  had  been  the  practice  to  dis- 
tribute sick  emigrants  among  the  inhabitants,  at  vhose 
houses  they  received  that  attention  their  forlorn  situation 
demanded.  In  this  way,  jail  or  ship  fever  was  frecpently 
communicated  to  the  families  with  which  they  were  quar- 
tered (or  it  was  so  thought  at  the  time),  and  about  this 
time  a  "  Peste  house  "was  erected  on  League  Island.*  In 
1747  Webster  says  the  city  again  was  visi^.ed  by  the 
"  Bilious  Plague,"  preceded  by  influenza,  which  very  fre- 
quently prevailed  over  the  whole  continent. 

The  citizens  frequently  suffered  from  bilious  remittent 
fevers,  particularly  while  the  dock  remained  open.  This 
was  a  creek,  running  from  near  the  centre  of  the  city  plot 
to  the  Delaware,  following  the  course  of  Dock  street ;  and 
was  navigable  at  high  tide  so  far  as  Chestnut  and  Fourth 
streets.  At  low  water,  however,  its  maddy  bed  was  left 
exposed  to  the  sun,  and  emitted  a  most  noxious  effluvium ; 
and  Dr.  Bond  asserts  that  fewer  ounces  of  bark  were 
taken  after  its  closure  than  pounds  before.  As  a  pre- 
ventive and  cure  for  miasmatic  diseases  and  their  sequelae. 
Dr.  Bond  lauds  highly  the  mild  chalybeate  waters  which 
abound  in  the   neighborhood   of  the   city;    and  by  his 

*  Watson  MSS.  [This  is  a  mistake ;  it  was  erected  on  Province, 
afterwards  called  Slate  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Schuykill. — 
Editor.] 


TO    MEDICAL    HISTORY.  363 

directions  they  were  much  resorted  to,  both  by  conva- 
lescents and  those  who  wished  to  escape  the  "  bleaching 
ague."  Many  facetious  stories  are  told  of  the  impositions 
that  were  practised  upon  those  who,  too  unwell  to  walk 
to  the  springs  out  of  the  city,  were  directed  to  particular 
wells  as  possessing  equal  virtues.  These  springs  seem 
early  to  have  claimed  attention,  and  were  thought  by  the 
first  settlers  to  equal  the  most  celebrated  spas  of  Europe. 
So  early  as  the  year  1722,  the  one  now  known  as  the 
Yellow  Spring,  in  the  Great  Valley,  was  discovered,  and 
much  resorted  to.  There  was  one  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Wind-gap  in  the  Blue  Mountain,  which  on  the 
early  maps  of  the  State  was  called  the  Healing  Spring, 
and  marked  by  the  representation  of  a  number  of  tents 
pitched  round  it.  There  was  another,  situate  near  Bris- 
tol ;  and  in  the  Watson  MSS.  one  is  noticed,  situate  near 
where  the  Globe  Mill  now  stands,  which  received  the 
patronage  of  AVilliam  Penn,  who  caused  accommodations 
for  visitors  to  be  erected,  and  hoped  to  see  a  village  collect 
round  it,  which  in  anticipation  he  named  Bath.'^ 

Having  thus  sketched  a  few  rough  notices  of  such  facts 
as  have  come  to  my  knowledge  in  reference  to  the  Medical 

*  These  were  probably  the  waters  to  which  Penn  alludes  in  his 
letter  to  the  Free  Society  of  Traders,  16th  6th  mo.,  1683. 

"  3.  The  waters  are  generally  good ;  for  the  rivers  and  brooks  have 
mostly  gravel  and  stony  bottoms,  and  in  numbers  hardly  credible. 
We  have  also  mineral  waters,  which  operate  in  the  same  manner, 
with  those  of  Barnet  and  North  Hall,  not  two  miles  from  Philadel- 
phia." 

Those  who  may  feel  curious  on  the  subject  of  the  mineral  springs 
in  Pennsylvania,  we  refer  to  "Watson's  Annals,  I.,  489,  Ibid,  II., 
463.  —  Editor. 


364         morris's  contributions,  etc. 

History  of  the  Province,  prior  to  the  year  1750,  I  now 
submit  tliem  to  your  consideration,  in  the  hope,  as  before 
stated,  to  elicit  further  information.  Our  subsequent  his- 
tory may  be  more  easily  determined,  and  should  not  some 
one  more  competent  to  the  task  step  forward,  shall  form 
the  subject  of  a  future  communication  from  the  author  of 
the  preceding. 


NOTICES 


OF 


NEGRO    SLAVERY, 

'as 

CONNECTED  WITH 

PENNSYLVANIA. 
BY    EDWARD    BETTLE. 


Bead  before  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  8th  mo., 
Vh,  1826. 


(365) 


NOTICES,   ETC/ 


"We  trust  we  shall  not  indulge  hopes  too  sanguine,  if 
we  should  now  anticipate,  that  by  the  united  labors  of 
our  Society,  Pennsylvania  will  receive  that  illustration  of 
her  annals,  character,  and  resources,  which  has  so  long 
been  due  to  a  State  whose  history  in  many  important 
features  is  unique,  and  whose  moral  conduct  exhibits 
lessons  the  most  instructive,  and  examples  the  most 
encouraging,  of  active  practical  benevolence,  and  the  posi- 
tive application  of  the  principles  of  Christianity  to  the 
administration  of  human  affairs. 

When  we  look  at  the  history  of  Pennsylvania,  as  ex- 
hibited in  the  various  important  advances  made  by  her 
citizens  towards  meliorating  the  condition  of  the  oppressed 
and  injured  of  the  human  race,  and  the  relief  of  the 
miseries  which  crime  has  brought  upon  our  species,  our 
recollections  are  far  more  exalted  and  enduring  than  if 
we  could   boast  our  descent  from   the   most  illustrious 


*  For  a  short  biographical  notice  of  Mr.  Bettle,  see  Appendix, 
Note  III. 

(367) 


368  settle's  notices  of 

warriors  and  heroes  whose  names  have  been  emblazoned 
on  the  historic  page. 

A  century  and  a  half  have  now  nearly  elapsed  since 
the  great  sage  and  lawgiver  of  Pennsylvania  landed  on 
her  shores,  and  gave  the  first  impulse  to  that  spirit  of 
Christian  philanthropy  which  has  ever  since  continued, 
amid  the  wars  and  miseries  of  the  old  world,  to  shed  its 
light  and  diffuse  its  warmth  from  the  sanctuary  of  our 
native  soil ;  and  it  is  not  the  mere  vaunt  of  egotism  or 
the  idle  declamation  of  a  contracted  mind  to  assert,  that 
from  the  humble  and  unpretending  efforts  of  this  youth- 
ful member  of  the  commonwealth  of  nations  have  arisen 
many  of  those  plans  of  benevolence  which  are  now  adopted 
and  zealously  prosecuted  by  the  most  enlightened  philan- 
thropists of  all  countries. 

The  axiom,  that  the  object  of  all  good  government  is 
the  freedom,  order,  and  happiness  of  the  governed,  is  now 
considered  so  self-evident  and  undeniable,  that  we  may 
hardly  be  able  sufficiently  to  appreciate  the  great  merit 
of  William  Penn  in  proclaiming  the  sound  and  compre- 
hensive doctrines  contained  in  his  charter,  bill  of  rights, 
and  great  law,  at  a  period  when  the  most  profound  states- 
men held  and  promulgated  far  different  ideas  of  the  triie 
and  proper  constitution  of  government. 

In  contemplating  the  character  of  Penn  and  his  noble 
views  and  plans  of  melioration,  we  perceive  for  the  first 
time  an  attempt  to  found  a  government  upon  the  basis  of 
practical  Christianity,  desiring  no  other  end  than  the 
welfare  of  those  who  might  live  under  its  happy  influence ; 
we  find  a  man  the  personal  friend  and  acquaintance  of  a 


NEGRO     SLAYERT  3C9 

despotic  prince,  and  under  a  charter  obtained  from  him 
founding  a  government  recognizing  the  equal  rights  of  all 
its  citizens,  educated  in  times  of  religious  intolerance  and 
persecution,  and  himself  a  severe  sufferer  for  conscience 
sake,  when  invested  with  power,  granting  to  such  as 
differed  from  him  in  sentiment,  nay,  even  to  his  oppressors, 
perfect  freedom  of  religious  opinion  and  practice. 

We  find  him  who  was  educated  in  a  country  where  a 
sanguinary  code  of  laws  made  the  awful  doom  of  death 
the  indiscriminate  punishment  for  the  petty  thief  and  the 
dehberate  murderer,  and  at  a  time  too  when  such  a 
change  was  certain  to  be  pronounced  a  visionary  innova- 
tion, advocating  and  adopting  that  sj'^stem  of  graduated 
and  mitigated  punishments  which  has  since  received  the 
sanction  of  the  wisest  and  best  of  his  successors. 

Sound  judgment,  comprehensive  and  enlarged  pohcy, 
unbroken  faith,  and  unsullied  probit}^,  formed  in  her  early 
days  the  prominent  characteristics  of  Pennsjdvanian 
government;  and,  much  as  they  may  have  been  aber- 
rated from,  by  many  of  her  succeeding  rulers,  the 
influence  of  this  early  example  has  been  powerfully 
operative  upon  her  character  and  actions  from  that  day 
to  the  present. 

It  is,  however,  beside  our  object  at  this  time  to 
expatiate  upon  the  conduct  of  Penn  and  his  coadjutors, 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  ennobling  designs  to  which  we 
have  alluded;  our  view  is  simply  to  show  that  from  a 
government  and  people  recognizing  such  principles  and 
doctrines,  and,  in  the  midst  of  darkness  and  ignorance, 
displaying  such  vivifjdng  Hght  and  knowledge,  we  might 

24 


370  settle's   notices   of 

riglitfully  expect  to  see  a  cordi.al  and  active  support 
of  all  measures  calculated  to  relieve  the  miseries  of 
mankind. 

Under  this  view  of  the  character  of  the  founders  of  our 
State,  we  might  with  safety  anticipate  that  humane  sym- 
pathy, that  powerful  and  impressive  precept,  and  that 
prompt  and  active  exertion  in  relation  to  the  oppressed 
sons  of  Africa,  which  it  is  the  object  of  the  present  sketch 
briefly  to  delineate ;  and  we  propose  now  to  consider  the 
exertions  of  Pennsylvanians  previously  to  the  year  1770, 
and  to  make  her  subsequent  history,  from  that  time  to  the 
present,  the  subject  of  another  memoir. 

It  is  not  necessary  in  this  State  to  urge  arguments  to 
show  the  total  hostility  of  slavery  to  Christianity,  reason, 
and  the  unalienable  rights  of  mankind ;  but  it  behooves 
ever}'^  Pennsylvanian  to  speak  forth  his  honest  abhor- 
rence boldly,  and  his  manly  indignation  loudly,  into 
those  ears  which  are  professedly  open,  but  it  is  feared 
virtually  and  practically  shut,  to  the  appeals  for  liberty, 
right,  and  justice,  of  a  large  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of 
a  comitry  whose  Constitution  is  founded  upon  the  prin- 
ciple that  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  are  mi- 
alienable  rights  which  we  receive  from  God,  and  of  which 
no  earthly  power  can  ever  rightfully  dispossess  us :  and 
we  trust  it  will  be  shown  that,  as  Pennsylvania  early 
stood  forth  as  an  advocate  of  this  deeply-injured  class  of 
humanity,  so  will  she  now,  from  the  known  opinions  of 
her  citizens,  from  her  local  situation,  and  from  her  moral 
influence  in  our  confederacy,  be  compelled  to  take  a 
decided  and  prominent  attitude,  and  to  proclaim  and  sup- 


NEGRO     SLAYERT.  371 

port  the  sacred  rights  of  man,  regardless  of  the  ridicule 
of  the  unprincipled,  or  the  mercenary  calculations  of 
those  with  whom  human  flesh  and  sinews,  and  tobacco, 
cotton,  and  sugar,  are  equally  legitimate  oljjects  of  traffic. 
How  can  im^  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  remain 
silent,  unconcerned  spectators  of  an  American  slave-trade 
within  our  borders,  in  our  capital  city,  the  boasted  centre 
of  free  government, —  a  traffic,  the  wretched  objects  of 
which  are  bred  for  sale  as  regularly  as  horses  and  cattle, 
and  whose  treatment  whilst  on  their  way  to  market  and 
when  in  the  field  of  labor  is  scarcely  upon  a  par  with  our 
beasts  of  burden.  This  is  no  highly  wrought  picture  of 
gone-by  days,  but  the  hourly  experience  and  practice  of 
the  present  time. 

Upon  a  comprehensive  \dew  of  the  subject,  we  think  it 
may  be  asserted  boldly,  and  without  fear  of  contradiction, 
that  the  worst  slavery,  the  most  total  prostration  of  the 
rights  of  man,  and  the  most  entire  degradation  of  the 
image  of  God,  are  exhibited  in  the  bondage  of  the 
negroes.  This  is  the  slavery  which  is  not  only  practiced 
and  tolerated,  on  the  plea  that  it  is  an  entailed  and  un- 
avoidable evil,  but  is  absolutely  defended  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  freemen  of  the  United  States,  as 
being  consistent  with  Holy  Scripture,  and  with  the  mild 
religion  of  our  Eedeemer.  Negro  slavery  has  been  com- 
pared to  the  bondage  of  the  Hebrews  and  Romans ;  but 
there  is  no  parallel,  scarcely  a  remote  analogy  between 
them.  The  slavery  of  the  Hebrews  was  as  the  submis- 
sion of  sons  to  their  fathers ;  the  slaves  formed  part  of 
one  common  household,  of  which  the  patriarch  was  the 


372  bettle's    notices   op 

kind  paternal  licad ;  ili(;y  labored  in  common  with  his 
own  ofispring,  they  tended  liis  flocks  wdth  his  own  sons 
and  daugliters,  they  were  protected  by  special  ordinances 
of  the  Jewish  law,  and  at  the  expiration  of  fifty  years, 
there  was  a  manumission  of  all  sla\'cs,  and  every  one  was 
entitled  to  land  and  money  from  their  masters :  and,  in 
addition  to  this,  there  was  that  most  important  of  all 
differences,  viz.,  that  Hebrew  slavery  was  not  hereditary. 
Even  this  mild  kind  of  bondage  extended  no  further  than 
to  those  who  were  actually  purchased  by  the  master; 
their  offspring  were  free,  and  instead  of  the  heart-sicken- 
ing certainty  of  the  American  slave,  that  the  oppression 
under  which  he  suffers  will  be  perpetuated,  j)erhaps  in  an 
aggravated  form,  to  his. latest  posterity,  the  Jewish  bonds- 
man saw  in  prospective  for  his  offspring  liberty,  and  per- 
haps honor  and  happiness.  Among  the  Romans,  if  a 
slave  exhibited  talents  and  became  distinguished  for  his 
mental  powers,  he  generally  obtained  his  freedom;  and 
many  of  the  most  illustrious  poets,  statesmen,  and 
warriors  of  Rome  were  freedmen.*  To  compare  then  the 
kind  and  paternal  government  of  the  Hebrew  slave,  his 
certain  prospect  of  obtaining  an  honorable  freedom,  or 
the  hope  of  the  Roman  servant,  who  felt  within  his 
breast  the  energies  and  ambition  of  a  powerful  mind,  to 
that  dull,  heartless,  and  oppressive  reality,  which  sits  like 
an  incubus  upon  the  breast  of  an  American  slave,  that 
never  to  him  shall  the  light  of  freedom  dawn,  or  the 
present  abjectness  of  his  condition  be  changed  for  his 

*  See  Stephens'  Slavery  of  British  West  India  Colonies,  Yol.  I., 
pp.  43,  44,  51,  64,  &c.— Editor. 


NEGRO     SLAVERY.  373 

rightful  station  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth ;  to 
compare  the  two  prospects  together,  is  to  contrast  the 
occasional  overcast  of  bright  day  with  the  impenetrable 
gloom  of  starless  midnight,  or  to  equal  the  whispers  of 
hope  to  the  sullen  silence  of  despair.  To  hear  such  argu- 
ments as  these  proceeding  from  the  source  whence  they 
have  emanated,  is  a  bad  omen ;  it  looks  like  a  deliberate 
design  not  to  meliorate,  and  finally  by  degrees  to  abolish 
the  evil,  but  rather,  in  the  face  of  former  professions,  to 
perpetuate  forever  this  open  and  palpable  infringement 
of  the  very  unction  and  spirit  of  our  free  institutions. 
We  affect  great  sjmipathy  for  enslaved  Spain,  we  profess 
much  commiseration  for  degraded  Italy;  nay,  we  even 
reprobate  the  Holy  Alliance,  for  not  undertaking  a 
crusade  in  favor  of  the  quondam  land  of  science  and  of 
song,  and  are  almost  ready  ourselves  to  assist  in  driving 
the  barbarians  from  her  soil :  but  what  avails  this  pro- 
fession ?  Do  not  all  our  vaunts  of  republicanism  and  free 
government  amount  to  sheer  mockery  and  insult  to  the 
name  of  religion,  justice,  and  liberty,  so  long  as  a  large 
number  of  the  States  of  our  confederacy  continue  the 
American  slavery  and  slave-trade. 

We  are  well  aware  that  this  is  a  subject  of  a  momentous 
nature,  fraught  with  difficulty  and  embarrassment,  and 
eminently  deserving  calm,  dispassionate,  and  mature  con- 
sideration ;  and  we  would  be  very  far  from  recommending, 
nay,  even  desiring,  the  immediate  abolition  of  slavery  — 
in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  evil  will  be  the 
tardiness  and  difficulty  of  its  eradication  —  but  we  do 
insist  that  no  excuse  whatever  can  be  made  for  the  hreed- 


374  bettle's  notices  of 

ing  system,  for  the  American  slave  trade,  and  for  the  ex- 
tension of  slavery  to  neio  and  uncoQitaminated  soih,  for  the 
total  deprivatian  of  tlie  negroes  by  law  of  literary,  moral, 
and  religious  instruction,  and  that  the  State  governments 
are  bound  to  take  some  prospective  measures,  however 
slow  in  effect  and  remote  in  final  executicn^,  to  clear  our  land 
from  so  foul  a  stain  on  the  national  character. 

We  frequently  hear  from  those  engaged  in  slavery 
strong  expressions  of  abhorrence  of  the  practice,  and 
great  desires  for  the  abolition  of  the  evil.  It  is  believed 
that  in  many  instances  these  professions  are  true  and 
sincere,  and  we  rejoice  in  the  existence  of  such  feelings ; 
but  we  think  we  th^j  be  allowed  to  question  their  general 
verity,  when  we  see,  even  in  those  States  where  there  is 
least  excuse  for  the  permanent  continuance  of  the  evil, 
an  anxious  desire  to  defile  w^ith  slavery  new  j)ortions  of 
our  territories,  and  a  steady  adherence  to  their  former 
cruel  and  degrading  pohcy,  without  one  solitary  prospec- 
tive glance  at  melioration,  or  one  act  which  has  the  most 
remote  bearing  upon  its  abolition,  but  rather  an  increasing 
disposition  to  quench  inquiry  and  discussion  upon  the 
subject.  We  shall  not,  however,  at  present,  say  more  on 
these  points,  but  proceed  to  our  narrative. 

In  order  to  give  a  clear  idea  of  the  relative  period  at 
which  slavery  was  first  opposed  in  Pennsylvania,  it  may 
perhaps  be  proper  to  take  a  cursory  review  of  the  origin 
of  the  African  slave  trade,  and  of  the  opposition  it  encoun- 
tered up  to  the  year  1688. 

The  infam}^  of  being  the  first  who  brought  the  mis- 
erable   sons   of  Africa  as  slaves  from  their  native  soil 


NEGRO    SLAYER  Y.  375 

attaches  itself  to  the  Portuguese,  who,  as  early  as  1481, 
built  a  castle  on  the  Gold  coast,  and  from  thence  ravaged 
the  country,  and  carried  ojBf  the  inhabitants  to  Portugal, 
where  they  were  sold  into  bondage.*  In  1503  slaves  were 
first  taken  from  the  Portusruese  settlements  in  Africa  to 
the  Spanish  possessions  in  America ;  and  from  that  time 
to  1511,  large  numbers  were  exported  to  the  colonies  of 


*  "  Guinea  supplied  black  slaves  to  the  Moors  of  Africa,  to  redeem 
'their  countrymen  made  prisoners  by  Alfonso  V.  of  Portugal :  this 
first  originated  the  slave  trade  in  1442.  Commences  in  West  Indies, 
ISlt ;  in  Virginia,  1620  ;  first  effort  for  its  abolition  made  by  Gran- 
ville Sharpe,  1772;  petition  of  the  London  Common  Council  against 
it,  Feb.  1,  1788;  resolution  of  the  Commons  to  take  it  into  consider- 
ation in  the  next  session,  May  9,  1788;  motion  of  Wilberforce  against 
it  lost,  March  17,  1791;  its  gradual  abolition  voted,  April  26,  1792; 
motion  of  Wilberforce  negatived,  April  3,  1798;  Canning's  attempt 
to  prohibit  it  in  Trinidad  fails.  May  27,  1802 ;  the  act  for  its  abolition 
receives  the  royal  assent,  March  25,  1807." — Bosse^s  Index  of  Dates, 
Bohn's  Library,  Articles,  "Guinea,"  and  "Slave  Trade."  "To  the 
honor  of  Denmark  be  it  spoken,  the  slave  trade  was  abolished  by  her 
five  years  before  England  performed  that  act  of  tardy  justice  to 
humanity." — Twelve  Months'  Resid.  in  W.  Indies,  by  R.  R.  Madden, 
M.  D.,  vol.  ii.,  128. 

"At  length,  in  the  year  1279,  Magnus  became  King  of  Sweden, 
and  the  eleven  years  of  his  reign,  with  thirteen  of  that  of  his  son  — 
during  which  the  government,  on  account  of  his  minority,  was  con- 
ducted by  an  able  minister  —  formed  the  period  of  the  greatest 
improvement  in  its  earlier  history.  *  *  *  His  son  Birger  being  but 
eleven  years  old  when  he  succeeded  to  the  throne,  the  government 
was  administered  by  a  regent,  during  thirteen  years,  with  Avisdoni 
and  vigor;  and  in  the  interval  it  was  enacted,*  among  other  legis- 
lative reforms,  that  no  man  should  thenceforward  be  bought  or  sold." 
Mille7-'s  Philosophy  of  History,  vol.  ii.,  355,  Bohn's  edition. — Editor. 


*  "  The  influence  of  Christianity  in  producing  this  ordinance  appears  from  the 
reason  assigned  in  the  law,  that  it  was  not  just  that  one  Christian  should  sell 
another,  since  Jesus  Christ  had  purchased  all  with  his  blood." — Fuffend.,  p.  109. 


37G  settle' S    NOTICES    OF 

Spain  by  pcriiiission  of  King  Ferdinand  V.  After  his 
death,  the  proposal  was  made  to  the  Regent  of  Spain, 
Cardinal  Ximencs,  by  Las  Casas,*  Bishop  of  Chiapa,  to 
establish  a  regular  commerce  in  African  slaves,  under  the 
plausible  and  well-intentioned,  but  fallacious  pretext  of 
substituting  their  labor  in  the  colonies  for  that  of  the 
native  Indians,  who  were  rapidly  becoming  exterminated 
by  the  severity  of  their  labor  and  the  cruel  treatment  of 
their  Spanish  masters.  To  the  immortal  honor  of  Car- 
dinal Ximenes,  he  rejected  the  proposition  on  the  ground 
of  the  iniquity  of  slavery  itself  in  the  abstract,  and  also 
the  great  injustice  of  making  slaves  of  one  nation  for  the 
liberation  of  another.  The  Cardinal  appears,  therefore, 
to  have  been  the  first  avowed  opponent  of  this  traffic  in 
men.f 

*  It  is  said  that  Las  Casas'  proposal  was  first  acted  on  in  Cuba  in 
1523-4,  at  which  time  three  hundred  negroes  were  introduced  from 

Spain. — Ansivers  of  Senor ,  of  Havana,  to  Questions  addressed 

by  R.  R.  Madden,  31.  D.,  London,  1840.  But  Bancroft  (vol.  i.,  p. 
169)  says  that  it  was  not  Las  Casas  who  fi'st  suggested  the  plan  of 
transporting  African  slaves  to  Hispaniola.  There  is  no  doubt,  how- 
ever, that  such  a  proposal  was  made  by  him.  See  the  documents 
brought  to  light  by  Quintana.  The  proof  is  so  full,  from  his  own 
writings  and  other  authentic  documents  not  difficult  of  access,  that  it 
would  be  quite  out  of  place,  and  would  take  too  much  space,  even  to 
refer  to  them  here.— ^-Quintaiia,  vol.  iii.,  p.  467,  as  cited  by  Madden. 

•{■  "  It  is  in  vain  to  deny  that  Las  Casas  committed  this  most 
lamentable  error  (his  suggestion  in  favor  of  the  importation  of  African 
slaves  into  Cuba),  as  many  have  asserted,  and  amongst  others,  the 
Abbe  Gregoire.  Quintana  has  produced  the  original  documents  in 
which  this  suggestion  is  made  by  Las  Casas ;  but  they  who  claim 
Las  Casas  for  an  advocate  of  the  slave  trade  are  little  aware  that  he 
himself,  heartily  repenting  of  his  proposal,  condemns  it  in  his  own 
history  (lib.  iii.,  chap.  101),  and  in  his  own  words:  'Because  they 
(the  negroes)  had  the  same  rights  as  the  Indians.' 


NEGRO    SLAVERY.  377 

After  the  death  of  this  prelate,  the  emperor,  Charles  V., 
in  1517,  encouraged  the  slave  trade,  and  granted  letters 
patent  for  carrying  it  on ; "'''  but  he  lived  to  see  his  error 
and  most  nobly  renounced  it,  for  he  ordered  and  had 
executed  a  complete  manumission  of  all  African  slaves  in 
his  American  dominions.  About  this  time  Pope  Leo  X. 
gave  to  the  world  this  noble  declaration  :  "  That  not  only 
the  Christian  religion,  but  nature  herself  cried  out  against 
a  state  of  slavery."  In  the  year  1562,  in  the  reign  of* 
Elizabeth,  the  English  first  stained  their  hands  with  the 
negro  traffic :  Captain,  afterwards  Sir  J.  Hawkins,  made  a 
descent  on  the  African  coast,  and  carried  away  a  number 

"  When  the  Episcopal  dignity  was  conferred  on  him,  on  reaching 
his  see,  the  first  use  he  made  of  his  pastoral  power  was  to  deny  the 
sacraments  to  all  those  who  held  slaves  and  refused  to  give  them  up, 
and  those  who  bought  and  sold  them.  *  *  *  In  the  latest  pro- 
duction from  the  pen  of  Las  Casas  he  confesses  the  grievous  fault  he 
had  fallen  into,  and  begs  for  the  forgiveness  of  God  in  the  most  con- 
trite terms,  for  the  misfortunes  he  had  brought  on  the  poor  people  of 
Africa  by  the  inadvertence  of  his  counsel,  and  this  confession  (says 
his  historian)  of  his  error,  so  full  of  candor  and  contrition,  should 
disarm  the  rigor  of  philosophy,  and  hold  his  benevolent  disposition 
absolved  before  postezity.  Let  him,  whose  philanthropy  is  without 
fault,  and  whose  nature  is  superior  to  error,  cast  the  first  stone  at  the 
memory  of  the  venerable  Las  Casas."  —  Poems  hy  a  Slave  in  the 
Island  of  Cuba,  and  to  which  are  prefixed  two  pieces  descriptive  of 
Cuban  slavery  and  the  slave  traffic,  by  K.  R.  Madden,  M.  D.,  London, 
1840,  pp.  152,  155.— Editor. 

*  "In  1511  Charles  granted  a  patent  to  one  of  his  Flemish  favor- 
ites, containing  an  exclusive  right  of  importing  four  thousand  negroes 
into  America.  The  favorite  sold  his  patent  to  some  Genoese  mer- 
chants for  25,000  ducats,  and  they  were  the  first  who  brought  into  a 
regular  form  that  commerce  for  slaves  between  Africa  and  America, 
which  has  since  been  carried  on  to  such  an  amazing  extent." — 
Robertson,  I.  p.  321. — Editor. 


378  bettle's   notices  of 

of  the  natives,  whom  lie  sold  to  the  Spaniards  in  Ilis- 
paniola ;  and,  although  censured  by  the  queen,  it  appears 
that  he  still  continued  to  prosecute  the  trade.*  The 
French  commenced  this  business  about  the  same  time, 
although  Louis  XIII.  gave  the  royal  sanction  Avith  re- 
luctance, and  only  when  soothed  by  the  delusive  pretext 
of  converting  the  Africans  to  Christianity.  In  1G45  a 
law  was  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Massachusetts, 
|)rohibiting  the  buying  and  selling  of  slaves,  except  those 
taken  in  lawful  war  or  reduced  to  servitude  for  their 
crimes  by  a  judicial  sentence;  and  these  were  to  have 
the  same  privileges  as  were  allowed  to  Hebrew  slaves  by 
the  law  of  Moses.f  In  1713  the  Legislature  of  Massa- 
chusetts imposed  a  heavy  duty  on  every  negro  imported 
into  the  State. 

The  next  in  order  amongst  those  worthy  and  enlight- 
ened men,  who  were  the  very  early  opponents  of  slavery, 
is  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  George  Fox. 
This  pious  Christian  visited  Barbadoes  in  IGTl,  and  whilst 

*  See  Holmes'  Annals,  I.,  p.  101,  where  he  refers  to  Hakluyt,  I., 
pp.  521,  522,  for  an  account  of  this  voyage.  Hawkins  says  Stow 
(Chron.  807,  quoted  by  Holmes)  died  in  1595,  "  as  it  was  supposed 
of  melancholy." — Editor. 

■f  In  this  year  a  I'emarkable  instance  of  justice  to  a  negro,  in  exe- 
cution of  this  law,  occurred  in  Massachusetts.  He  had  been  fraudu- 
lently taken  and  brought  from  Guinea,  was  demanded  of  the  pur- 
chaser by  the  Government,  and  the  Court  "  resolved  to  send  him 
back  without  delay."  Perhaps  this  circumstance  has  led  our  author 
into  the  error  of  fixing  this  3^ear  as  the  date  of  this  Act.  It  was  part 
of  the  hundred  laws,  called  the  Body  of  Liberties  (Winthrop's  Jour- 
nal, 237),  established  by  the  General  Court  of  ^Massachusetts,  in 
1641. —  See  Holmes'  Annals,  I.,  317,  335.  Edition  of  1805,  and  the 
authorities  cited. — Editor. 


NEGRO     SLAVERY.  379 

there  advised  such  of  his  brethren  as  held  slaves  to  teach 
them  the  principles  of  reUgion,  treat  them  mildly,  and 
after  certain  years  of  labor  set  them  free.* 

Contemporary  with  George  Fox  was  William  Ednmind- 
son,  who  was  a  worthy  minister  of  this  society,  and  who 
also  was  a  fellow  traveller  with  Fox  in  Barbadoes.f 
Being  brought  before  the  Governor,  on  the  charge  of 
teaching  the  negroes  Christianity,  and  thereby  causing 
them  to  rebel  and  destroy  their  owners,  he  made  an 
answer  which  we  quote  entire, — as  it  strongly  shows  that 
the  same  kind  of  clamor  against  giving  negroes  instruc- 
tion which  at  present  exists  upon  the  same  plea,  that  it 
would  be  inconsistent  with  the  safety  of  their  masters, 
has  existed  from  the  very  beginning;  and  the  answer 
which  this  worthy  man  gave  to  the  slaveholders  of  that 
day  is  admirably  adapted  to  those  of  the  present  time.J 
In  reply  to  the  charge  recited  above,  he  says,  "  That  it 
was  a  good  thing  to  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  God 


*  Further  particulars  respecting  George  Fox's  advice  concerning 
slaves,  will  be  found  in  a  series  of  papers  prepared  for  the  "  Friend," 
by  Mr.  Nathan  Kite,  entitled  "  Antiquarian  llesearches  among  the 
early  Printers  and  Publishers  of  Friends'  Books,"  Vol.  XYII. — 
Editor. 

f  Edmundson  twice  visited  Barbadoes,  once  in  1671,  and  once  in 
1615.  It  was  during  his  second  visit  that  the  events  referred  to  in 
the  text  occurred. — Gough's  History,  III.,  61.  Edmundson's  Jour- 
nal, p.  85,  Edit,  of  1114.— Editor. 

1  "  The  earliest  instances  of  such  inconsistent  persecution  was  in 
the  Island  of  Barbadoes,  in  the  year  1616,  and  to  the  honor  of  that 
truly  amiable  sect  of  Christians,  the  Quakers,  their  charity  and 
liberality  furnished  the  first  opportunity  for  it  by  their  singular  and 
probably  then  unprecedented  attempt  to  impart  their  own  religion  to 
the  negroes." — Stephens'  Slavery  of  West  Indies,  I.,  234. — Editor. 


380  bettle's   notices   of 

and  Christ  Jesus,  and  to  believe  in  him  who  died  fcjr 
them  and  all  men,  and  that  this  would  keep  them  from 
rebelling  and  cutting  any  person's  throat;  Ijut  if  they -did 
rebel  and  cut  their  throats,  as  the  Governor  insinuated 
they  would,  it  would  be  their  own  doing  in  keeping  them 
in  ignorance  and  under  oppression,  in  giving  them  liberty 
to  be  conunon  with  women  like  brutes,  and  on  the  other 
hand  in  starving  them  for  want  of  meat  and  clothes  con- 
venient; thus  giving  them  liberty  in  that  wdiich  God 
restrained,  and  restraining  them  in  meat  and  clothing."* 

In  1G73,  Richard  Baxter,  and,  in  1G80,  Morgan  God- 
wyn,  both  clergymen,  wrote  forcibly  against  slavery.^ 

From  1680  to  1688,  it  does  not  appear  that  any  public 
opposition  to  slavery  was  made;  and,  as  the  last-men- 
tioned year  was  an  important  era  in  the  history  of  Penn- 
sylvania, as  connected  Avith  this  subject,  we  shall  now 
proceed  to  embody  the  comparatively  scanty  and  imper- 
fect materials  which  we  have  been  able  to  collect.  Soon 
after  the  first  settlement  of  Pennsylvania,  a  few  slaves 
were  introduced  from  the  West  Indies ;  and  the  practice 
was  in  some  degree  tolerated  by  Friends,  as  well  as  the 
other  early  settlers  of  the  province,  on  the  pretence  of  a 

*  After  the  Quakers,  "  The  Moravians,  that  humble  and  zealous 
sect  of  Christians,  next  entered  on  this  desolate  field.  They  sent 
missions  to  the  Antilles  so  early  as  1732,  and  prior  to  1T87  had 
resident  ministers  in  Antigua,  St.  Christopher,  Barbadoes,"  &c. 
(Stephens^  Slavejy  of  West  Indies,  I.,  237.)  He  quotes  a  planter  as 
follows :  "  Since  the  Moravians  have  been  established  at  St.  Croix 
the  treatment  of  the  negroes  has  been  more  humane.  The  masters 
are  very  glad  to  have  them  go  to  the  Moravians." — Editor. 

f  Godw^ni  also  published  a  supplement  to  his  "  Negroes'  and 
Indians'  Advocate,"  in  the  following  year. — Editor. 


NEGRO     SLAYERT.  381 

scarcity  of  laborers.  The  number  imported,  or  the 
precise  manner  in  which  they  were  introduced,  we  have 
not  been  able  to  learn ;  the  evil,  however,  soon  became 
so  obvious  and  increasing,  as  to  excite  the  attention  of 
the  Society  of  Friends ;  and  we  may  here  remark  that  in 
the  succeeding  pages  we  shall  often  have  occasion  to 
notice  the  labors  of  this  body  of  Christians.  To  the 
influence  of  their  precept  and  example,  to  their  moral 
weight  in  the  community,  and  the  untiring  zeal  and 
activity  with  which  they  prosecuted  this  work  of  bene- 
volence, are  mainly  to  be  attributed  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  Pennsylvania. 

About  the  year  1682,  a  number  of  persons  of  this 
society  emigrated  from  Krieshiem,  in  Germany,  and 
settled  themselves  in  Pennsylvania ;  and  to  this  body 
of  humble,  unpretending,  and  almost  unnoticed  philan- 
thropists belongs  the  honor  of  having  been  the  first  asso- 
ciation who  ever  remonstrated  against  negro  slavery.  In 
the  3^ear  1688,  they  presented  a  paper  to  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  Philadelphia,  then  held  at  Burlington,  as 
appears  by  a  minute  of  that  meeting,  protesting  against 
the  buying^  selling,  and  holding  men  in  slavery,  as  incon- 
sistent with  the  Christian  religion.*  The  Yearly  Meeting 
then  determined  that,  as  the  subject  had  reference  to  the 
members  of  the  society  at  large,  before  resolving  defini- 

*  "  A  paper  being  here  presented  by  some  German  Friends  con- 
cerning the  lawfulness  and  unlawfulness  of  buying  and  keeping 
negroes ;  it  was  adjudged  not  to  be  so  proper  for  this  meeting  to 
give  a  positive  judgment  in  the  case,  it  having  so  general  a  relation 

to  many  other  parts,  and  therefore  at  present  they  forbear  it." 

Extract  from  the  Minutes. 


382  bettle's   notices   of 

lively  on  any  measure,   time  should  be  allowed  f(jr  its 
mature  consideration. 

We  have  used  many  endeavors  to  obtain  a  copy  of  this 
highly  interesting  document;  but  are  sorry  to  believe 
that  neither  the  original  nor  the  copy  is  in  existence  * 
We  cannot,  however,  pass  from  this  paper  without  pa}'ing 
a  small  tribute  of  admiration  and  gratitude  to  these  early 
and  dignified  friends  of  human  freedom  and  happiness. 

With  the    information   now   so   generally  diffused   in 
regard  to  the  total  hostility  of  slavery  to  religion  and  the 
rights  of  man,  we  cannot  perhaps  fully  appreciate  the 
enlightened  views  and  clear  discernment,  which  enabled 
these  humble  individuals  to  proclaim  doctrines  and  prin- 
ciples so  much  in  advance  of  the  received  opinions  of  the 
age ;  for  at  that  time,  as  has  been  before  remarked,  negro 
slavery  was  a  far  less  appalling  and  extended  evil  than 
at    present.      Even    by    many   philanthropists    it    w^as 
esteemed  rather  a  blessing  than  a  curse,  and  was  encour- 
aged on  the  plausible  pretence  of  meliorating  the  con- 
dition of  the  Africans  themselves,  by  imbuing  them  with 
Christianity,  and  dispelling  their  mental   darkness  and 
gloom ;  and,  by  the  comparative  mildness  of  their  treat- 
ment, some    countenance    was  given   to   these    delusive 
opinions.     In  the  midst  then  of  mitigating  circumstances, 
did  these  worthy  men,  taking  the  abstract  principles  of 
rioht  and  wrong  for  their  guide,  and  possessing  a  manly 
sense  of  the  rights  of  their  fellow  creatures,  proclaim  to 
the  world  that,  while  they  emigrated  to  enjoy  their  OAvn 


*  See  note  on  page  412,  at  the  end  of  this  article. — Editor. 


NEGRO     SLAVERY.  383 

liberty,  they  were  willing  to  extend  its  blessings  uni- 
versally. 

In  1696,  several  papers  from  the  subordinate  meetings 
having  been  read,  the  Yearly  Meeting,  after  deliberation, 
issued  this  advice, — "  That  Friends  be  careful  not  to 
encourage  the  bringing  in  of  any  more  negroes ;  and  that 
such  as  have  negroes  be  careful  of  them,  bring  them  to 
meeting,  and  have  meetings  with  them  in  their  families, 
and  restrain  them  from  loose  and  lewd  living,  as  much  as 
in  them  lies,  and  from  rambling  abroad  on  first  days."  In 
this  year  also,  George  Keith  and  his  friends,  who  had 
seceded  from  the  Quakers,  pubhshed  a  paper  on  the 
subject,  containing  some  very  sound  and  cogent  argu- 
ments. They  asserted  that  the  negroes  were  men,  the 
common  objects,  with  the  rest  of  mankind,  of  redeeming 
love ;  that  they  had  been  taken  by  violence  from  their 
native  land,  and  were  unjustly  detained  in  bondage ;  and 
finally,  that  the  whole  institution  of  slavery  was  con- 
trary to  the  religion  of  Christ,  the  rights  of  man,  and 
sound  reason  and  policy. 

The  next  efforts  in  favor  of  the  negroes  were  made  by 
the  founder  of  our  State.*  A  mind  so  liberal,  expansive, 
and  benevolent  as  his  could  not  be  indifferent  to  a  subject 
of  this  highly  interesting  character;  and,  from  the  first 
introduction  of  slaves  into  Pennsylvania,  he  appears  to 
have  been  desirous  of  improving  their  condition.  Accord- 
ingly, in  1700,  he  introduced  the  subject  to  the  monthly 

*  For  an  interesting  review  of  Penn's  opinions  upon  slavery  and 
the  growth  of  his  convictions  upon  the  subject,  see  Dixon's  Life,  pp. 
301,  302;  Phila.  Ed.,  1851.— Editor. 


384  bettle's   notices   of 

meeting  of  Pliiljidelphia,  and  the  following  minute  was 
made  by  that  body,  viz. :  — 

"  Our  dear  friend  and  governor  having  laid  before  this 
meeting  a  concern  that  hath  lain  upon  his  mind  for  some 
time,  concerning  the  negroes  and  Indians,  that  Friends 
ought  to  be  very  careful  in  discharging  a  good  conscience 
towards  them  in  all  respects,  but  more  especially  for  the 
good  of  their  souls,  and  that  they  might,  as  frequent  as 
may  be,  come  to  meetings  on  First  Days ;  upon  consider- 
ation w^hereof,  this  meeting  concludes  to  appoint  a  meet- 
ing for  the  negroes,  to  be  kept  once  a  month,  &c.,  and 
that  their  masters  give  notice  thereof  in  their  own  families, 
and  be  present  with  them  at  the  said  meetings  as  frequent 
as  may  be." 

These  resolutions  having  been  adopted  without  diffi- 
culty by  his  ow^n  immediate  friends,  he  proceeded  in  his 
work  of  benevolence,  and  endeavored  to  secure  a  proper 
treatment  of  slaves  among  all  descriptions  of  persons  by 
a  legislative  act.  As  a  preliminary  to  further  measures 
he  was  anxious  to  improve  their  moral  condition,  and  by 
degrees  to  fit  them  for  liberty  and  happiness ;  and  accord- 
ingly introduced  into  the  Assembly  a  bill  "  for  regulating 
negroes  in  their  morals  and  marriages,"  and  also  a  bill 
"  for  the  regulation  of  their  trials  and  punishments."  To 
the  great  astonishment  and  chagrin  of  the  worthy  governor, 
the  first  of  these  bills  was  negatived,  and  his  humane 
intentions  for  the  present  defeated.* 

This  unexpected  result  is  attributed  by  Clarkson,  in 

*  "  His  latest  action  in  the  colonial  legislature  was  in  behalf  of  the 
poor  negroes."  —  Dixon's  Life  of  Penn,  p.  330. — Editor. 


NEGRO    SLAVERY.  385 

his  Life  of  Penn,  to  various  reasons,  viz. :  the  hostility 
which  then  prevailed  in  the  Assembly  to  all  projects 
emanating  from  the  executive  —  the  jealousies  which 
existed  between  the  province  and  territories  —  the  influx 
of  emigrants  of  a  lower  tone  of  moral  feeling  than  the 
first  settlers  of  the  colony,  and  the  diminution  of  Quaker 
influence  in  the  Assembly;  the  executive  council,  com- 
posed wholly  of  members  of  this  society,  having  concurred 
with  Penn  in  proposing  the  bill. 

The  same  causes  appear  to  have  been  in  operation  for 
several  years  after ;  and  we  accordingly  find  a  degree  of 
severity  and  rigor  in  the  legislative  enactments  of  1705, 
entirely  at  variance  with  the  humane  policy  of  Penn 
and  with  the  benevolent  laws  of  a  very  few  years  later 
date. 

The  law  of  1705  was  entitled  "  an  act  for  the  trial  and 
punishment  of  negroes."  The  act  provided  that  negroes 
convicted  of  heinous  crimes,  such  as  murder,  manslaughter, 
burglary,  rape,  &c.,  should  be  tried  by  three  justices  of 
the  peace  and  six  freeholders  of  the  vicinage ;  that  the 
punishment  of  death  should  be  awarded  to  such  offences ; 
that  any  negro  convicted  of  carrying  arms  without  his 
master's  consent,  should,  on  conviction  before  a  magis- 
trate, receive  twenty-one  lashes;  and  finally,  that  not 
more  than  four  negroes  should  meet  together  without 
their  master's  permission,  on  the  penalty  of  receiving  any 
number  not  exceeding  thirty-nine  lashes,  on  conviction 
before  one  justice  of  the  peace.  This  law  was  intended 
as  a  substitute  for  William  Penn's  act  of  1700,  for  the 
"  trial  and  punishment  of  negroes."     In  this  same  year  a 

25 


386  bettle's  notices  of 

law  was  passed  to  prevent  the  importation  of  Indian 
slaves,  under  penalty  of  forfeiture  to  the  governor;  and 
also  a  bill  laying  a  duty  on  all  negroes  imported  into  the 
province.  In  1710  a  law  of  similar  character  was  en- 
acted. 

In  1711  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia,  on  a 
representation  from  the  Quarterly  Meeting  of  Chester, 
that  the  buying  and  encouraging  the  importation  of 
negroes  was  still  practised  by  some  members  of  the 
society,  again  repeated  and  enforced  the  observance  of 
the  advice  issued  in  1696,  and  further  directed  all  mer- 
chants and  factors  to  write  to  their  correspondents  and 
discourage  their  sending  any  more  negroes. 

This  year  also  is  memorable  in  the  annals  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, on  account  of  the  passage  of  a  bill  entitled,  "An 
act  to  prevent  the  importation  of  negroes  and  Indians  into 
tlie  province" 

"We  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  a  sight  of  this  highly 
important  and  interesting  document.  It  is  doubtful  in- 
deed whether  a  copy  of  it  is  in  existence,  as  it  was 
repealed  in  England,  directly  after  its  passage,  by  an 
order  of  council.  The  loss  of  such  a  law  is  the  more  to 
be  regretted,  as  it  evinces  a  striking  alteration  of  temper 
and  feeling  in  the  Legislature  since  the  enactments  of 
1705,  a  change  which  can  only  be  attributed  to  the 
exertions  of  the  friends  of  freedom,  and  the  influence  of 
more  enlightened  public  opinion ;  and  as  a  further  e\ddence 
that  the  minds  of  many  of  the  citizens  of  Pennsylvania 
were  alive  to  this  interesting  subject,  and  anxious  to 
prevent  the  further  growth  and  increase  of  what  they 


NEGRO    SLAVERY.  387 

began  already  to  exj^erience  as  a  serious  evil,  we  find,  in 
1712,  that,  undismayed  by  the  repeal  of  the  non-importa- 
tion law  of  the  preceding  year  by  the  court  of  England,  a 
petition,  "  signed  by  many  hands,"  praying  for  a  duty  to 
discourage  the  further  importation  of  negroes,  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Assembly,  and  after  mature  consideration,  a 
bill  laying  the  then  enormous  duty  of  twenty  pounds  per 
head  was  passed,  which  well-intentioned  and  effective  law 
shared  the  same  fate  in  the  English  council  as  the  act  of 
1711.  We  may  here  take  occasion  to  observe,  that  all 
the  designs  of  the  early  legislators  of  Pennsylvania  to 
improve  the  condition  of  her  citizens,  and  to  substitute, 
for  the  oppressive  policy^  of  the  old  world,  a  more  free, 
humane,  and  happy  condition  of  things  in  the  new,  were 
rendered  void  through  the  repeal,  by  English  orders  of 
council,  of  all  such  laws  as  had  these  noble  and  excellent 
designs  in  view.  This  circumstance  will  account  for  the 
little  subsequent  notice  taken  of  the  subject  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  our  State,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  laws, 
which  we  shall  soon  mention,  from  this  period  up  to 
1770.  Our  intervening  history  will  be  principally  con- 
fined to  the  exertions  of  the  Society  of  Friends  and  of 
private  individuals. 

In  1712,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  Assembly  by 
William  Southeby,*  praying  for  the  total  abolition  of 
slavery  in  Pennsylvania;    on  consideration,  the   House 

*  William  Southebj  had  been  a  resident  of  Maryland,  and  a 
Roman  Catholic.  In  1696,  he  wrote  papers  against  slavery.  A 
sketch  of  his  life,  by  Mr.  Nathan  Kite,  will  be  found  in  XXYIII.  Yol. 
of  "The  Friend,"  pp.  293,  301,  809.— Editor. 


388  bettle's   notices  of 

decided  that  the  prayer  of  the  petitioner  could  not  be 
granted.  In  the  years  1715-17-21-26  and  29,  diflerent 
laws  were  passed,  laying  duties  on  negroes ;  these,  with 
a  bill  of  1725-G,  entitled  an  act  for  the  better  regulating 
of  negroes  in  the  province,  are  all  the  notices  of  the  sub- 
ject that  we  have  been  enabled  to  find  on  the  votes  of 
the  Assembly  up  to  17G1.  The  hostility  of  the  English 
government  to  any  supposed  encroachment  on  the  trade 
of  the  country,  even  in  human  flesh,  appears  to  have  been 
sufficient  to  prevent  any  further  attempts  to  abolish  this 
cruel  traffic.  Though  the  law  of  1725-6,  for  the  better 
regulating  the  negroes,  contained  some  harsh  provisions, 
it  provided  that  the  existing  duty  on  negroes  should  be 
increased  to  10?.  per  head;  the  third  section  obliged  a 
master,  on  manumitting  his  slave,  to  give  security  that 
he  should  not  become  chargeable  to  the  county ;  the  fifth 
section  enacted  that  no  minister  or  magistrate  shoidd 
marry  a  negro  with  a  white  person  under  penalty  of 
1001. ,  and  that  no  negro  be  more  than  ten  miles"  from 
home,  without  written  permission  from  his  master. 

In  1761,  we  find  the  last  effort  made  to  check  the 
importation  of  slaves  previous  to  1770.  In  this  year, 
remonstrances  were  presented  to  the  Assembly  from  a 
large  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  Philadelphia,  repre- 
senting the  mischievous  effects  of  the  slave-trade,  and 
praying  for  such  an  increase  of  the  duty  on  negroes  as 
might  effectually  check  further  importation.  After  much 
debate  in  the  House,  and  altercation  with  the  Governor, 
a  bill  increasing  the  impost  was  passed.     In  1768,  this 


NEGRO     SLAVERY.  389 

bill,  having   expired  by  its   limitation,  was   re-enacted. 
Thus  much  for  the  acts  of  Assembly.* 

To  return  to  an  earlier  period.  In  the  year  1712,  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  addressed  an  epistle  to 
the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  in  London,  stating  that 
for  a  number  of  years  they  had  been  seriously  concerned 
on  account  of  the  importation  and  trade  in  slaves,  and  of 
the  detention  of  them  and  their  posterity  "in  bondage 
without  any  limitation  or  time  of  redemption  from  that 
condition;"  that  the  meeting,  by  its  advice,  had  en- 
deavored, and  in  some  degree  succeeded  in  discouraging 
the  traffic ;  yet,  that  as  "  settlements  increased  so  other 
traders  flocked  in  among  them  over  whom  they  had  no 
Gospel  authority,"  and  that  the  number  of  negroes  was 
thereby  greatly  increased  in  the  province ;  they  desired 
that  the  London  Yearly  Meeting  would  consult  with 
Friends  in  the  other  colonies  who  were  more  engaged  in 

*  The  following  is  a  list  of  all  the  Acts,  prior  to  the  Revolution, 
and  is  somewhat  fuller  than  that  in  the  text.     They  arc  those  of 

1Y05,  ino-11, 1712, 1115,  nn-18, 1120, 1722, 1125-6, 1129,  nei, 

1168,  and  1113, — which  last  was  made  perpetual. 

The  Acts  of  date  subsequent  to  1105,  are  but  modifications  of  the 
one  of  that  year ;  for,  when  through  the  bigoted  policy  of  the 
mother  country,  a  repeal  took  place,  another,  so  soon  as  expediency 
allowed,  was  passed  by  the  Assembly.  The  objection  on  the  part  of 
the  superior  authorities  was  not  because  of  the  spirit  of  some  of  the 
provisions  of  the  Acts,  which  might  have  been  better,  but  sprang 
from  a  determination  to  force  upon  the  Province  an  institution  to 
which  it  was  averse. 

Our  author  mistakes  in  supposing  a  law  was  passed  in  1111 ;  that 
to  which  he  alludes,  but  regrets  he  has  not  seen,  was  the  one  of 
1112,  of  the  main  feature  of  which  he  seems  to  have  been  aware. 

A  fuller  reference  to  these  enactments  will  be  found  in  a  note,  at 
p.  415. — Editor. 


390  bettle's   notices   of 

slaveliolding  than  those  in  Pennsylvaniti ;  that  in  this 
matter  of  so  general  importance,  a  union  of  oi)inious  and 
practice  might  be  obtained;  and  furtlier  desiring  the 
advice  and  counsel  of  English  Friends  in  the  case.  These 
requests  were  acceded  to,  as  appears  by  the  epistle  from 
Pennsylvania  to  London,  in  1714;  which  states,  that 
they^iindly  received  the  advice  of  English  Friends  upon 
the  subject,  and  were  one  in  opinion  with  them,  "  that 
the  multiplying  of  negroes  might  be  of  dangerous  conse- 
quence," and  that,  therefore,  a  law  was  obtained  in  Penn- 
sylvania, imposing  a  duty  of  20?.  a  head  upon  all 
imported,  but  the  queen  had  been  pleased  to  disannul  it ; 
that  they  heartily  wished  that  some  means  could  be  dis- 
covered of  stopping  the  further  importation,  and  desired 
the  influence  of  the  society  in  England  with  the  govern- 
ment there,  to  endeavor  to  prevail  on  the  queen  to  sanc- 
tion such  further  anti-slavery  laws  as  the  Legislature  of 
Pennsylvania  might  ado^^t.  They  furtlier  stated  that 
they  did  not  know  of  any  Friend  w^ho  was  concerned  in 
importing  negroes  from  Africa,  and  concluded  by  desiring 
the  Yearly  Meeting  of  London  to  continue  its  advice  and 
assistance  to  Friends  in  the  other  slaveliolding  colonies. 
Tn  1715  and  16  and  19,  advice  was  issued  by  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  Pennsylvania,  strongly  urging  that  Friends 
should  not  only  dechne  importing,  but  also  purchasing, 
when  imported,  any  slaves;  and  that  those  who  had 
them  in  possession,  should  treat  them  with  "humanity 
and  a  Christian  spirit,"  and  endeavor  to  instruct  them  in 
morality  and  the  principles  of  religion.* 

*  For  the  several  protests  of  the  English  Friends,  against  the 
importation  and  holding  of  slaves,  from  1T2G  to  1T61  inclusive,  see 


NEGRO     SLAVERY.  891 

The  next  laborer  in  behalf  of  the  negroes  whom  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  notice,  is  Ealph  Sandiford.  He 
was  descended  from  a  respectable  family  in  Barbadoes, 
and  was  educated  as  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
by  a  pious  tutor,  probably  in  Great  Britain.  On  emigrat- 
ing to  Pennsylvania,  he  joined  the  Society  of  Friends, 
and  soon  began  to  direct  his  attention  towards  the  con- 
dition of  the  black  population.  He  rejected  many  advan- 
tageous propositions  of  pecuniary  advancement,  as  they 
came  from  those  who  had  acquired  their  j)roperty  by  the 
oppression  of  their  slaves,  and  appears  to  have  been  very 
earnest  and  constant  in  his  endeavors  to  prevail  both  on 
the  members  of  his  own  religious  society,  as  well  as  his 
friends  generally,  entirely  to  relinquish  the  practice  of 
slaveholding.  In  1729,  he  appeared  as  a  pubUc  advocate 
of  the  blacks,  by  publishing  a  work,  entitled  "  The 
Mystery  of  Iniquity,  in  a  Brief  Examination  of  the 
Practice  of  the  Times,"  which  he  circulated  at  his  own 
expense  wherever  he  deemed  it  might  be  useful.  We 
have  never  read  the  essay,  but  the  author  is  represented 
to  be  a  man  of  talents  and  unquestioned  probity,  and  the 
work  as  every  way  worthy  of  him.  In  the  words  of 
Clarkson,  "  it  was  excellent  as  a  composition.  The  lan- 
guage was  correct.     The  style  manly  and  energetic,  and 

"  Extracts  from  the  Minutes  and  Advices,"  &c.,  printed  bj  James 
Phillips,  in  1Y83 ;  and  an  Epistle,  in  1763. — Annual  Epistles  from 
the  Yearly  Meeting  in  London,  p.  213.     Baltimore,  1806. 

In  this  year,  1718,  appeared  "An  Address  to  the  Elders  of  the 
Church,"  by  William  Burling,  strongly  condemnatory  of  slavchold 
ing.  "  The  same  year,"  says  Benjamin  Lay,  "  I  was  convinced  of 
the  same  'hellish  practice.'" — Editor. 


392  bettle's   notices   of 

it  abounded  with  facts,  sentiments,  and  quotations,  which, 
while  they  showed  the  virtue  and  talents  of  the  author, 
rendered  it  a  valuable  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  African 
cause."  For  some  expressions  in  reference  to  his  breth- 
ren, which  he  supposes  woidd  be  considered  severe,  he 
apologizes,  by  saying  that  they  were  wrung  from  him  by 
his  intense  feeling  of  the  magnitude  of  the  oppression, 
with  which  he  was  sometimes  so  impressed  that  "  he  felt 
as  if  the  rod  had  been  upon  his  own  back."* 

In  1730-35-3G  and  37  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philor 
delphia  was  informed  by  some  of  its  subordinate  branches, 
that  though  the  imputation  of  negroes  had  been  aban- 
doned by  members  of  the  Society,  yet  that  some  still  per- 
sisted in  buying  them  when  imported :  the  meeting,  there- 
fore, in  these  respective  years,  issued  advice  enforcing  the 
minutes  made  upon  the  subject  on  former  occasions,  and 
strongly  recommending  to  the  Monthly  Meetings  (who 
are  the  executive  departments  of  the  Society)  to  be 
diligent  in  cautioning  and  admonishing  such  of  their 
members  as  might  give  cause  of  offence.  In  1737  the 
Quarterly  Meetings  were  directed  to  furnish  in  their 
reports  at  the  next  Annual  Meeting  a  succinct  statement 
of  the  actual  practice  of  their  members  in  this  respect. 
In  1738,  in  answer  to  this  requisition,  and  also  in  the 
years  1739  to  1743,  it  appeared  that  the  members  who 
continued  to  purchase  slaves  w^ere  constantly  decreasing. 

We  shall  next  notice  that  early,  honest,  but  over-zealous 


*  See  the  interesting  memoirs  of  Sandiford  and  Lay,  by  Roberts 
Yaux. 


NEGRO    SLAVERY.  393 

opponent  of  the  bondage  of  men,  Benjamin  Lay.*  He  was 
an  Englishman  by  birth,  brought  up  as  a  seaman,  and 
after  pursuing  that  occupation  for  several  years,  settled  in 
Barbadoes;  but  the  wretchedness  and  misery  which  he 
there  witnessed,  and  the  heart-rending  scenes  of  cruelty 
and  oppression,  of  which  he  was  a  daily  observer,  so 
affected  his  sensitive  mind  as  to  induce  him,  a  few  years 
afterwards,  to  quit  the  Island  and  emigrate  to  Pennsyl- 
vania. Here  he  likewise  found  the  evil  he  so  much 
shunned  and  abhorred,  but  in  a  far  different  and  much 
mitigated  form.  He  regarded  slavery,  however  much 
disguised  and  quahfied,  still  as  a  "bitter  draught,"  and 
reprobated  the  practice  with  the  same  zeal  and  license  of 
language  which  he  had  used  in  attacking  West  India 
bondage;  and  from  his  eccentricity  of  manner  and  too 
great  warmth  of  expression,  he  is  thought  to  have  been 
less  useful  and  influential  than  he  otherwise  might  have 
become ;  yet  he  was  a  man  of  a  strong  and  active  mind, 
of  great  integrity  and  uprightness  of  heart,  and  one  who 
no  doubt  acted  from  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  dictates 
of  his  conscience ;  hence  we  can  most  justly  forgive  his 
intemperate  words  and  actions,  and  regard  him  as  an 
early,  honest,  and  active  friend  of  oppressed  humanity. 

In  1737  he  published  his  treatise  "on  slave-keeping," 
a  work  evincing  talents  and  considerable  force   of  ex- 


*  In  the  xxix.  vol.  of  "  The  Friend  "  will  be  found  sketches  entitled 
Early  Anti-Slavery  Advocates,  prepared  by  Mr.  Xathan  Kite.  These 
embrace  the  lives  of  William  Burling,  Ralph  Sandiford,  and  Benjamin 
Lay ;  in  which  last  two  some  errors  into  which  their  former  biographer 
has  inadvertently  fallen  will  be  found  corrected.  —  Editoe. 


394  bettle's  notices  of 

pression,  tliougli  liable  to  the  oLjections  to  which  we  have 
above  adverted.  This  essay  he  distributed  gratuitously, 
and  was  particularly  anxious  to  have  it  introduced  into 
schools,  in  order  to  awaken  the  sympathies  of  those  who 
were  about  entering  into  active  life. 

He  also  solicited  and  obtained  interviews  upon  the 
subject  of  slavery  with  the  governors  of  several  of  the 
States;  and,  in  short,  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1760,  in  his  80th  year,  he  was  constant  and 
untiring  in  his  labors. 

In  1754  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Pennsylvania  printed 
and  circulated  a  letter  of  advice  to  its  members,  remind- 
ing them  of  its  often  expressed  and  well  known  will  upon 
the  subject  of  bu3'ing  slaves,  and  urging  some  cogent 
arguments  to  show  the  anti-christian  nature  of  the  traffic, 
and  the  awful  responsibilit}^  that  those  masters  were 
under  who  neglected  to  guard  the  morals  of  their  slaves, 
and  to  imbue  their  minds  with  religion  and  virtue.  It 
may  be  found  at  length  in  Clarkson's  History  of  the  Slave 
Trade. 

In  1755,  finding  that,  in  opposition  to  the  reiterated 
advice  of  the  body,  some  of  its  members  continued  to 
persist  in  buying  negroes,  the  Yearly  Meeting  made  a 
rule  of  discipline  directing  that  such  persons  crs  adhered 
to  the  practice,  after  suitable  admonition  by  their  Monthly 
Meetings,  should  be  disowned  from  the  religious  com- 
munion of  the  Society. 

Having  thus  prevented  the  further  increase  of  slaves 
by  purchase,  the  Society  was  desirous  of  advancing  stiU 
further  towards  a  complete  eradication  of  slavery  from 


NEGRO    SLAVERY.  395 

amongst  its  members.  Accordingly,  in  1758,  it  was  unani- 
mously agreed  that  Friends  should  be  advised  to  manumit 
their  slaves,  and  show  their  sense  of  gratitude  to  the 
Divine  Being,  from  whom  they  received  the  liberty  which 
they  so  freely  enjoyed,  by  extending  this  blessing  to  all 
their  fellow-creatures;  and  John  Woolman  and  others 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  visit  such  Friends  as  held 
slaves,  and  endeavor  to  prevail  on  them  to  relinquish  the 
practice.  This  committee,  it  apjpears  from  the  minutes 
of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  continued  to  prosecute  their  work 
of  benevolence  during  the  3'ears  1758-59-60  and  61  — 
and  from  their  reports,  these  Christian  endeavors  were 
crowned  with  much  success,  many  being  induced  to 
cleanse  their  hands  from  the  stain  of  slave-keeping.  The 
Yearly  Meeting  constantly  continued  its  attention  to  this 
subject  to  the  year  1776,  when  it  was  enacted  that  all 
Friends  who  refused  to  manumit  their  slaves  should  be 
disowned  by  the  Society.  A  more  particular  account  of 
this  noble  act  we  reserve  for  our  succeeding  essay  on  this 
subject. 

We  are  next  called  upon  to  notice  one  of  the  most 
pious  and  indefatigable  laborers  in  the  cause  of  freedom 
and  human  happiness  whom  the  Society  of  Friends  ever 
produced,  viz.,  John  Woolman.  This  excellent  man  was 
born  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  in  the  year  1720,  and 
at  a  very  early  age  was  distinguished  for  his  attachment 
to  religion  ;*  which  so  increased  and  strengthened  in  after- 


*  "  Before  I  was  seven  years  old,  I  began  to  be  acquainted  with 
the  operations  of  divine  love." — Woolman^s  Journal. — Editor. 


39G  bettle's   notices   of 

life,  that  we  think  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that,  for  self- 
denial,  purity  of  manners  and  conversation,  firm,  con- 
sistent and  persevering  prosecution  of  duty,  and  zealous 
and  enlightened  benevolence,  he  has  rarely  been  equalled, 
and  perhaps  never  excelled. 

He  appears  very  early  in  life  to  have  had  his  mind 
engaged  in  reflection  upon  the  subject  of  slavery.  Soon 
after  he  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  being  hired 
as  an  accountant,  he  was  directed  by  his  employer  to 
write  a  bill  of  sale  for  a  negro,  which,  in  obedience  to  his 
instructions,  he  did,  though,  as  he  himself  says,  not  with- 
out great  uneasiness  of  mind,  and  that  he  afterwards 
found  it  to  be  his  duty  to  inform  his  master  and  the  pur- 
chaser of  the  slave  that  "  he  believed  slavekeeping  to  be 
a  practice  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  religion ;"  and, 
on  a  subsequent  application  by  another  individual  to  pre- 
pare an  instrument  of  writing  of  a  similar  kind,  he 
entirely  refused,  alleging  the  foregoing  conviction  as  his 
excuse. 

In  1746,  he  travelled  as  a  minister  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  through  the  provinces  of  Maryland,  Virginia, 
and  North  Carolina,  where  it  appears  that  his  mind  was 
again  engaged  and  his  feelings  excited,  and  that  he  took 
occasion  during  the  journey  to  communicate  his  convic- 
tions on  this  deeply-interesting  subject  to  many  of  the 
inhabitants.  He  says,  he  "saw  in  these  southern  pro- 
vinces so  many  vices  and  corruptions  increased  by  this 
trade  and  this  way  of  hfe  [viz.,  the  whites  living  idly  and 
luxuriously  on  the  labor  of  the  blacks],  that  it  appeared 
to  him  as  a  gloom  over  the  land." 


NEGRO     SLAVERY.  397 

In  1753,  he  published  the  first  part  of  his  "Considerar 
tions  on  Keeping  Negroes/'*  in  which  he  insists  on  the 
rights  of  the  negroes  as  children  of  the  same  Heavenly 
Parent  with  their  masters,  and  that  slavery  is  repugnant 
to  the  Christian  rehgion. 

In  1756,  he  made  a  religious  visit  to  Long  Island,  and 
was  much  engaged  with  members  of  his  own  society  to 
prevail  on  them  to  release  their  slaves.  Hitherto  he  had 
only  acted  as  circumstances  casually  came  in  his  way,  but 
now  he  appeared  in  the  character  which  he  continued 
until  his  death  to  sujDport,  of  an  active  and  untiring 
laborer  in  this  righteous  cause. 

In  the  year  1757,  in  company  with  his  brother,  he 
engaged  in  an  arduous  journey  through  the  southern 
colonies,  in  order  to  convince  persons,  principally  of  his 
own  society,  of  the  wickedness  and  impohcy  of  slavery. 
He  sought  opportunities  of  friendly  conference  with  indi- 
viduals, and  urged  his  arguments  with  calmness  and 
modesty,  and,  at  the  same  time,  with  dignity  and  firm- 
ness ;  and  also  in  the  meetings  for  discipline  of  his  o^vn 
society,  he  was  indefatigable  in  pressing  the  subject,  and 
had  the  satisfaction  of  finding  that  by  some  he  was 
kindly  received,  and  of  perceiving  a  disposition  in  others 
to  adopt  his  views. 

We  have  before  noticed  that  he  was  appointed  by  the 
Yeai^ly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia,  in  1758,  one  of  a  com- 
mittee of  that  body  for  discouraging  slaveholding  amongst 

*  "  Some  Considerations  on  the  Keeping  of  Kcgrocs,  Recom- 
mended to  the  Professors  of  Christianity  of  every  Denomination."— 
First  printed  in  1153-4. — Editor. 


398  settle' S     NOTICES     OF 

its  members  ;■••=  and  as  lie  had  been  very  instrumental  in 
producing  this  appointment,  so  he  was  also  indefatigable 
in  discharging  the  duties  it  required ;  and,  in  this  year 
and  the  subsequent  one,  he  made  several  journeys  into 
various  parts  of  Pennsylvania  for  the  promotion  of  this 
object.  In  the  year  1760,  he  travelled  into  Rhode  Island, 
on  a  similar  errand,  and  also  visited  the  Island  of  Nan- 
tucket.f  In  1761,  he  visited  some  families  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  New  Jersey.  In  1762,  he  pubUshed  a  second 
part  of  his  "  Considerations  on  Slavekeeping." 

This  essay  is  written  with  considerable  ability  and 
force  of  expression,  and  is  well  worthy  of  perusal  at  the 
present  day.  He  urges  the  rights  of  the  slaves  to  their 
freedom  in  common  with  the  rest  of  mankind ;  shows  the 
debasing  and  demoralizing  effect  which  the  institution  of 
slavery  in  any  country  produces  on  both  masters  and  ser- 
vants, and  the  fallacy  of  comparing  negro  slavery  to  the 
condition  of  the  Jewish  bondsmen ;  and  concludes  by 
reciting  some  testimony  to  illustrate  the  abominable  char- 
acter of  the  African  slave-trade.J 

In  1767,§  this  apostle  of  freedom  travelled  again  in 
Maryland,  and  again  urged  his  enlightened  opinions.     In 

*  Daniel  Stanton,  John  Scarborough,  and  John  Sjkes  were  his 
fellow  visitors  to  those  Friend's  who  had  slaves,  in  1T58.  John 
Churchman  and  Samuel  Eastburn,  in  1759. — Editor. 

f  On  this  visit,  he  was  accompanied  by  his  "beloved  friend," 
Samuel  Eastburn. — Editor. 

I  This  pamphlet  he  published  at  his  own  expense,  although  his 
friends  "offered  to  get  a  number  printed  to  be.  paid  for  out  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting  stock,  and  to  bo  given  away."  His  reasons  are 
characteristic. — See  his  Journal,  p.  136.     Edition  of  1775. — Editor. 

§  1768.     Journal,  p.  188. — Editor. 


NEGRO     SLAVERY.  399 

1772,  he  embarked  for  England,  and  whilst  there,  en- 
deavored to  induce  the  society  of  which  he  was  a  member 
to  interfere  with  the  government  of  England  on  behalf 
of  the  oppressed  Africans. 

The  time,  however,  had  arrived  when  this  faithful 
laborer  was  to  be  released  from  his  arduous  service,  and 
to  receive  in  the  mansions  of  eternal  rest  the  reward  of 
his  works.  He  died  in  the  city  of  York,  England,  of  the 
small-pox,  in  1772,  aged  fifty-two  years.* 

Contemporary  with  Woolman  was  that  pious  and  ex- 
cellent friend  of  the  human  race,  Anthony  Benezet, — a 
man  who  combined,  in  an  eminent  degree,  shining 
virtues,  excellent  talents,  and  indefatigable  industry; 
who  lived  and  labored  with  the  most  well-directed  assi- 
duity for  the  good  of  all  mankind,  and  who  died  regretted 
by  those,  and  they  were  not  few  in  number,  who  had  seen 
and  known  and  admired  his  long  career  of  useful  practical 
benevolence. 

He  was  born  in  France,  of  respectable  parents  of  the 
Protestant  profession,  in  the  year  1713,  who,  at  the  revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantz,  removed  with  their  infant 
son  into  Holland,  and  shortly  after  into  England.  An- 
thony here  received  a  liberal  education,  and  served  an 
apprenticeship  in  an  eminent  mercantile  house  in  London. 
Having  joined  himself  in  membership  with  the  Society  of 
Friends,  in  1731  he  emigrated  to  Philadelphia,  which  was 
from  that  time  the  permanent  place  of  his  residence.  In 
1736,  he  married,  and  turned  his  attention  to  establishing 

*  "  Get  the  writing  of  John  Woohiian  by  heart ;  and  love  the 
early  Quakers." — Charles  Lamb. — Essays  of  Elia. — Editor. 


400  bettle's   notices   of 

himself  in  business.  With  respect  to  this  subject,  his  mind 
appears  to  have  been  much  unsettled ;  not,  as  is  generally 
the  case,  anxious  to  resolve  on  the  profession  which  might 
jdeld  the  greatest  pecuniary  emolument,  but  much  more 
concerned  how  he  might  devote  his  time  and  talents  to 
the  service  of  his  Creator  and  the  advancement  of  the 
happiness  of  his  fellow  creatures.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
six,  he  believed  it  to  be  his  duty  to  assume  the  arduous 
engagement  of  an  instructor  of  youth.  After  teaching  a 
short  time  in  the  Academy  at  German  town,  in  1742  he 
accepted  of  the  office  of  English  tutor  in  the  "  Friends' 
Public  Schools  in  Philadelphia,"  in  which  situation  he 
continued  for  twelve  years,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 
employers.  In  1755,  he  opened  a  school  on  his  own 
account  for  the  instruction  of  females ;  and,  by  the  excel- 
lence of  his  moral  and  literary  tuition,  and  his  peculiar 
fitness  for  this  interesting  duty,  it  long  continued  to  be 
one  of  the  best  patronized  and  most  highly  useful  semi- 
naries of  Philadelphia. 

About  the  year  1750,  according  to  the  account  of  his 
highly  respected  biographer,*  his  attention  appears  to 
have  been  first  engaged  upon  that  important  subject 
which  afterwards  engrossed  so  large  a  portion  of  his  time 
and  talents.  His  feeUngs  having  become  deeply  inter- 
ested on  account  of  the  oppressed  and  degraded  condition 
of  the  blacks,  the  first  essays  which  he  made  were  of  that 
practical  kind  so  highly  characteristic  of  the  man.  Being 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  meliorating,  in  the  first 

*  Roberts  Vaux. 


NEGRO     SLAVERY.  401 

place,  their  mental  condition,  he  imposed  on  himself,  in 
addition  to  the  laborious  duties  of  his  own  school,  the 
task  of  giving  in  the  evenings  gratuitous  instruction  to 
the  negroes  of  Philadelphia ;  and  he  had  the  great  satis- 
faction to  discover,  by  the  improvement  of  his  pupils  in 
literature,  as  well  as  their  moral  advancement,  that  the 
hitherto  long  asserted  idea  of  their  mental  inferiority  to 
the  rest  of  mankind  was  fallacious  and  illusory.* 

Having  excited  in  the  minds  of  his  fellow-citizens  an 
increased  interest  and  sympathy  for  this  oppressed  people, 
he  proceeded  to  make  more  public  the  results  of  his 
reflections  and  experience.  His  first  writings  consisted 
of  small  pieces  in  the  almanacs  and  newspapers  of  the 
day,  which  medium  he  selected  as  best  adapted  to  engage 
all  classes  of  people  in  favor  of  his  benevolent  designs. 
In  1762  he  published  "An  account  of  that  part  of  Africa 
inhabited  by  the  Negroes."  In  1767,  "A  Caution  and 
Warning  to  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  on  the  calami- 
tous state  of  the  enslaved  Negroes."  This  work  was 
examined  and  approved  by  the  Society  of  Friends  in 
Pennsylvania,  as  appears  by  the  minutes  of  meetings  of 
the  representatives  of  that  body,  held  in  1766,  at  whose 
expense  a  large  number  of  copies  were  printed  and  sent 
to  England  for  distribution.  3d.  "An  Historical  Account 
of  Guinea,  its  situation,  produce,  and  the  general  dis- 
position of  its  inhabitants ;  with  an  inquiry  into  the  rise 

*  The  same  enlightened  views  were  held  by  John  Bartram,  who 
has  done  so  much  honor  to  Philadelphia  in  other  ways.     As  one  of 
the   earliest   anti-slavery   champions   he    deserves   mention   in   this 
place. — Darlington's  Mem.  of  John  Barti^am,  pp.  41,  54, — Editor, 
26 


402  bettle's  notices  of 

and  progress  of  the  slave  trade,  its  nature  and  calamitous 
effects."* 

This  book  is  remarkable  for  having  given  to  the  vene- 
rable Thomas  Clarkson  some  of  the  first  definite  informa- 
tion with  regard  to  facts,  which  enabled  him  practically 
to  commence  his  long  career  of  activity  and  usefulness ; 
and  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  give  Clarkson's  character 
of  the  work  in  his  own  words : 

"  This  pamphlet  contained  a  clear  and  distinct  develop- 
ment of  the  subject  from  the  best  authorities.  It  con- 
tained also  the  sentiments  of  many  enlightened  men  upon 
it;  and  it  became  instrumental,  beyond  any  other  book 
ever  before  published,  in  disseminating  a  proper  know- 
ledge and  detestation  of  this  trade." 

With  such  limited  pecuniary  means  as  the  occupation 
of  school-keeping  afforded,  Benezet  distributed  large  num- 
bers of  these  valuable  and  instructive  books;  he  sent 
copies  of  the  Historical  Account  of  Guinea  to  some  of  the 
most  eminent  men  in  Europe,  accompanied  with  a  circular 
letter,  written  in  a  simple  and  unadorned,  yet  forcible 
and  convincing  manner ;  in  addition  to  this,  all  the  time 
he  could  command  from  his  regular  occupations  was 
employed  in  an  extensive  correspondence  with  such  per- 
sons as  he  thought  might  be  interested  in  promoting  the 
cause  to  which  he  was  so  unceasingly  devoted.  Amongst 
those  wdiom  he  addressed  at  different  times  were  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Dr.  Fothergill,  Granville  Sharp, 
the  Abbe  Raynal,  John  Wesley,  George  Whitfield,  the 

*  London,  1772.     8vo. — Editor. 


NEGRO     SLAVERY.  403 

Countess  of  Huntingdon,  and  Charlotte,  Queen  of  England. 
He  also  made  an  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  negroes  to  the 
Queens  of  France  and  Portugal. 

We  cannot,  perhaps,  better  illustrate  his  diligence  and 
the  extent  and  variety  of  his  engagements  than  by 
quoting  the  words  of  his  intelhgent  biographer.  He 
remarks : 

"It  was  characteristic  if  one  day  he  were  seen  sur- 
rounded by  the  sable  children  of  Africa,  imparting  advice 
and  deriving  information  from  them  concerning  the  cruel- 
ties they  had  suffered,  and  the  next  engaged  in  composing 
essays  on  the  subject;  addressing  letters  to  friends  and 
strangers,  from  whom  he  hoped  some  aid  could  be  obtained ; 
or,  with  an  innocent  boldness  worthy  of  his  office,  spread- 
ing the  cause  of  the  poor  negro,  in  the  language  of  warn- 
ing and  persuasion,  before  statesmen  and  sovereigns." 

These  great,  and  in  a  degree,  effective  exertions,  were 
sedulously  continued  during  the  whole  course  of  his  long 
life ;  the  two  last  years  of  which  were  devoted  to  the 
tuition  of  negroes,  in  a  free  school  founded  and,endowed 
by  the  Society  of  Friends. 

A  review  of  the  extent  and  variety  of  his  efforts, 
the  personal  exertions  which  he  used,  the  constancy  as 
well  as  zeal  with  which  he  pursued  the  investigation  and 
exposure  of  every  branch  of  the  subject,  we  think  entitles 
us  to  adopt  the  short  but  full  eulogium  which  Clarkson 
pronounces  respecting  him.  "Anthony  Benezet,"  says  he, 
"  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the  most  zealous,  vigilant, 
and  active  advocates,  which  the  cause  of  the  oppressed 


404  bettle's   notices   of 

Africans  ever  had.  lie  seemed  to  have  been  bom  and  to 
have  lived  for  the  promotion  of  it;  and,  therefore,  he 
never  omitted  any  the  least  opportunity  of  serving  it." 

His  active  mind  also  embraced  many  other  objects  of 
benevolence.  He  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  anti- 
Christian  tendency  of  war,  and  its  hostility  to  the  happi- 
ness of  mankind,  and  wrote  several  able  tracts  on  the 
subject;  and  also  corresponded  thereupon  wdth  many 
distinguished  characters.  His  private  charities  were 
numerous  and  unostentatious.  Li  short,  it  appears  to 
have  been  the  primary  concern  of  his  life  to  imitate, 
according  to  his  ability,  the  example  of  our  Holy 
Kedeemer,  in  constant  acts  of  benevolence  and  good  will 
to  mankind. 

With  all  these  good  works  there  was  connected  one 
remarkable  trait  of  his  character  which  beautified  and 
adorned  all  his  other  excellencies,  and  that  was  his  great 
humility.  Shortly  before  his  death  he  uttered  these  ex- 
pressions :  "  I  am  dying,  and  feel  ashamed  to  meet  the 
face  of  my  Maker,  I  have  done  so  little  in  his  cause." 
He  also  desired  an  intimate  friend  to  prevent,  if  possible, 
any  posthumous  memorial  of  him ;  and  added,  "  K  they 
will  not  obey  this  wish,  desire  them  to  say,  'Anthony 
Benezet  was  a  poor  creature,  and  through  divine  favor 
was  enabled  to  know  it.' " 

This  distinguished  philanthropist  died  in  1784,  in  the 
seventy-first  year  of  his  age,  after  bequeathing  the  little 
fortune  he  had  accumulated  by  industry  and  economy  to 
the  overseers  of  Friends'  Public  Schools,  that  it  might  be 
appropriated  to  the  education  of  the  blacks. 


NEGRO    SLAVERY.  405 

We  have  now  closed  our  notice  of  the  efforts  of  Penn- 
sylvania in  behalf  of  the  negroes,  antecedent  to  the  year 
1770;  and  have  shown,  we  trust,  that  our  forefathers 
were  active  and  ardent  laborers  in  the  righteous  cause  of 
human  freedom  and  happiness.  We  propose,  in  a  future 
essay,  to  exhibit  the  further  history  of  our  State,  as  con- 
nected with  this  subject,  up  to  the  present  time. 

The  lamented  writer  reserved  for  another  Memoir  the  history,  sub- 
sequent to  1Y70,  of  slavery  in  Pennsylvania.  We  do  not  propose  to 
complete  the  task,  yet  believe  our  duty  will  not  have  been  fulfilled 
without  some  further  reference  to  the  subject. 

The  good  seed  sown  by  the  honest  German  Friends  in  1688  did 
not  perish,  for  what  great  truth  ever  has?  The  abolition  of  slavery 
continued  to  be  agitated  without,  however,  any  immediate  results. 
What  a  peaceful  policy  could  not  effect  was  at  last  accomplished  by 
the  Revolution;*  so  then,  as  now,  political  convulsion  hastened  the 
development  of  events,  that  otherwise  might  have  been  a  score  of 
years  in  ripening.     Thus  is  history  ever  repeating  itself 

On  the  9th  of  November,  1718,  George  Bryan,  the  Yice  President, 
in  his  message  called  the  attention  of  the  Assembly  to  the  subject, 
and  said,  "  the  late  Assembly  was  furnished  with  the  heads  of  a  bill 
for  manumitting  infant  negroes,  born  of  slaves,  by  which  the  gradual 
abolition  of  servitude  for  life  would  be  obtained  in  an  easy  mode.  It 
is  not  proposed  that  the  present  slaves,  most  of  whom  are  scarcely 
competent  of  freedom,  should  be  meddled  with,  but  all  importations 
must  be  forbid,  if  the  idea  be  adopted.  This  or  some  better  scheme 
would  tend  to  abrogate  slavery,  the  opprobrium  of  America,  from 
among  us ;  and  no  period  seems  more  happy  for  the  attempt  than  the 
present,  as  the  number  of  such  unhappy  characters,  ever  few  in 
Pennsylvania,  has  been  much  reduced  by  the  practices  and  plunder 
of  our  late  invaders.  In  divesting  the  State  of  slaves  you  will 
equally  serve  the  cause  of  humanity  and  policy,  and  offer  to  God  one 
of  the  most  proper  and  best  returns  of  gratitude  for  his  great  deliver- 
ance of  us  and  our  posterity  from  thraldom :  you  will  also  set  your 

*  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Joseph  Reed,  by  his  grandson,  William  B.  Reed, 
vol.  ii.,  p.  173. 


406  NOTES. 

character  for  justice  and  benevoleuce  in  the  true  point  of  view  to  all 
Europe,  who  are  astonished  to  see  a  people  eager  for  liberty  holding 
negroes  in  bondage." 

Again,  on  the  5th  of  February,  1719,  we  find  that  President  P».eed 
called  the  attention  of  the  Assembly  to  the  subject,  and  on  the  9th 
of  September  in  the  same  year,  in  a  message  to  the  House  he  said: 
"We  would  also  again  bring  into  your  view  apian  for  the  gradual 
abolition  of  slavery,  so  disgraceful  to  any  people,  and  more  especially 
to  those  who  have  been  contending  in  the  great  cause  of  liberty 
themselves,  and  upon  whom  Providence  has  bestowed  such  eminent 
marks  of  its  favor  and  protection.  We  think  we  are  loudly  called  on 
to  evince  our  gratitude,  in  making  our  fellow  men  joint  heirs  with  us 
of  the  same  inestimable  blessings,  under  such  restrictions  and  regu- 
lations as  will  not  injure  the  community,  and  will  imperceptibly 
enable  them  to  relish  and  improve  the  station  to  which  they  will  be 
advanced.  Honored  will  that  State  be,  in  the  annals  of  history, 
which  shall  first  abolish  this  violation  of  the  rights  of  mankind,  and 
the  memories  of  those  will  bo  held  in  grateful  and  everlasting  remem# 
brance,  who  shall  pass  the  law  to  restore  and  establish  the  rights  of 
human  nature  in  Pennsylvania.  We  feel  ourselves  so  intei'ested  on 
this  point,  as  to  go  beyond  what  may  be  deemed,  by  some,  the  proper 
line  of  our  duty,  and  acquaint  you  that  we  have  reduced  this  plan  to 
the  form  of  a  law,  which,  if  acceptable,  we  shall  in  a  few  days  com- 
municate to  you."* 

The  auspicious  day  at  length  arrived.  The  work  of  the  friends  of 
human  liberty  in  Pennsylvania  was  at  last  completed,  and  on  the  1st 
of  March,  1180,  an  act  was  passed  for  the  gradual  abolition  of 
slavery. 

The  preamble  of  the  Act,  one  of  the  noblest  compositions  on 
record,  and  the  act  itself,  were  from  the  pen  of  George  Bryan. 

Slavery  from  this  began  gradually  to  disappear,  as  will  be  seen 
from  an  official  document  of  the  Department  of  State,  at  Wash- 
ington.! 


In  IT 90  there  were 
1800      "         " 
1810      "         " 
1820      "         " 
1830      "         " 


3,137  slaves. 

1,106  " 
195  " 
211  " 
386       " 


*  Idem,  173;  Penna.  Archives,  vii.  79;  Journal  of  House  of  Rep.,  307,  364. 
f  Hazard's  Register,  vol.  xvi.  120. 


NOTES.  407 

That  this  population,  after  having,  from  1Y90  to  1820,  steadily 
diminished,  should,  between  the  latter  period  and  1830,  have  in- 
creased, arrested  the  attention  of  our  Legislature,  and  at  the  session 
of  1833  a  committee  was  appointed  bj  the  Senate  —  of  which  our 
late  venerable  member,  Mr.  Samuel  Breck,  was  chairman  —  "to  in- 
vestigate the  cause  of  increase,  and  report  bj  bill  or  otherwise."* 
The  committee  remark,  "  that  so  large  an  addition  to  a  class  of  our 
population,  which  we  had  every  reason  to  believe  was  nearly  ex- 
tinguished, has  excited  considerable  attention,  even  beyond  the  limits 
of  our  commonwealth,  and  has  become  in  some  degree  a  reproach  to 
the  State.  Our  neighbors  in  New  York  and  citizens  of  other  States 
have  asked,  through  the  medium  of  the  public  prints,  how  it  happens 
that,  while  slavery  has  almost  ceased  to  exist  in  the  States  north  and 
east  of  us,  the  land  of  Penn,  which  took  the  lead  in  emancipation, 
and  contains  so  many  citizens  of  distinguished  philanthropy,  so 
many  associations  formed  expressly  for  the  promotion  of  abolition,  so 
many  friends  of  the  African  race,  always  on  the  watch  to  detect 
abuses,  and  ever  eager  to  aid  in  correcting  them,  should  exhibit  an 
increase  of  slaves?" 

By  the  law  of  1780  it  was  in  effect  enacted,  that  the  children  of 
all  negroes  and  mulattoes,  held  to  servitude,  born  within  the  State 
after  the  1st  of  March,  1T80,  should  be  held  to  service  until  the  age 
of  twenty-one,  and  no  longer ;  and  one  of  the  causes  of  the  increase 
the  committee  found  arose  from  a  misconstruction  of  the  Act  in  some 
of  the  counties  of  the  State,  by  which  the  grandchild  of  a  registered 
slave  was  held  to  the  same  term  of  service  as  the  mother,  whom  the 
law  had  pronounced  free  at  twenty-eight,  an  error  which  was  cor- 
rected in  1826  by  the  Supreme  Court.  Another  cause,  as  stated  by 
the  committee,  was  that  "negroes  of  all  ages  are  brought  in  con- 
siderable numbers  into  the  southwestern  counties,  bordering  on  Vir- 
ginia, and  emancipated  on  condition  of  serving  a  certain  number  of 
years,  seldom  exceeding  seven,  unless  they  happen  to  be  mere 
children.  About  half  the  usual  price  of  a  slave  is  paid  for  this 
limited  assignment ;  at  the  expiration  of  which  the  individual  obtains 
entire  freedom,  both  for  himself  and  such  of  his  children  as  may  be 
born  in  Pennsylvania."  The  committee  were  therefore  not  disposed 
to  recommend  any  measure  that  might  disturb  the  usage,  as  such  a 
course  would  shut  the  door  of  philanthropic  Pennsylvania  to  those 
who,  from  motives  of  humanity  and  interest,  might  wish  to  grant 

*  Hazard's  Register,  toI.  xi.  158. 


408  NOTES. 

manumission  to  thoir  slaves,  and  from  investigation  they  were  of  the 
opinion  tiiat  61,  instead  of  3Sfi,  constituted  the  number  of  slaves 
existing  in  1830. 

We  have  remarked  that  George  Bryan  was  the  author  of  the  Act 
of  1T80,  abolishing  slavery  in  Pennsylvania.  It  has,  however,  been 
stated  that  it  was  the  current  report  at  the  Bar,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  and  at  the  close  of  the  last,  that  the  late  William 
Lewis  was  its  draughtsman.  To  us,  it  seems  that  no  one  can  read 
Mr.  Bryan's  Message  to  the  Assembly,  already  quoted,  and  the 
Preaml)le  to  the  Act,  without  being  struck  with  a  similarity  in 
sentiment  and  style.  His  feelings  had  long  been  deeply  concerned 
for  the  welfare  of  these  poor  creatures ;  and,  as  the  first  who  officially 
suggested  abolition,  common  opinion,  if  expressed  at  all  upon  the 
occasion,  would,  as  a  matter  of  course,  have  pointed  to  him  as  the 
proper  person  to  draught  the  bill,  nor  are  the  terms  and  character  of 
its  clauses  such  as  that  any  one,  thoroughly  skilled  in  legislation  and 
familiar  with  the  subject,  might  not  as  readily  have  drawn  as  Mr. 
Bryan.  The  Preamble  required  higher  powers,  and  as  to  his  abilities 
for  the  whole  task,  if  any  doubt  exists,  Mr.  Bryan  appears  to  have  pos- 
sessed them  in  an  eminent  degree.  He  is  described,  in  an  "Extract" 
from  a  Funeral  Discourse  upon  his  death,  preached  January  30th, 
1191,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ewing,  Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  to  be  found  in  the  IX.  Vol.  of  Carey's  American  Museum, 
p.  81,  of  the  same  year,  "  As  formed  by  nature  for  a  close  application 
to  study,  animated  with  an  ardent  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  blessed 
with  a  memory  surprisingly  tenacious,  and  the  uncommon  attendant, 
a  clear,  penetrating,  and  decisive  judgment ;  his  mind  was  the  store- 
house of  extensive  information  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects.  Thus 
endowed  and  qualified,  he  was  able,  on  most  occasions,  to  avail  him- 
self of  the  labors  and  acquisitions,  the  researches  and  decisions  of  the 
most  distinguished  luminaries  that  had  finished  their  course  and  set 
before  him.  You  could,  therefore,  with  confidence,  generally  depend 
upon  his  judgment  as  the  last  result  of  laborious  investigation  and 
mature  decision. 

"  And  if  you  add  to  these  natural  and  acquired  endowments,  the 
moral  virtues  and  dispositions  of  his  heart,  his  benevolence  and 
sympathy  wfth  the  distressed,  his  unaffected  humility  and  easiness  of 
access  upon  all  occasions,  his  readiness  to  forgive,  and  his  godlike 
superiority  to  the  injuries  of  a  misjudging  world  (in  imitation  of  his 
divine  Master,  who,  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled  not  again),  his 
inflexible  integrity  in  the  administration  of  justice,  together  with  his 


NOTES.  409 

exalted  contempt  of  both  the  frowns  and  the  blandishments  of  the 
world,  you  will  find  him  eminently  qualified  for  the  faithful  and 
honorable  discharge  of  the  various  public  offices  which  he  filled,  with 
dignity  and  reputation,  even  in  the  worst  of  times,  and  in  the  midst 
of  a  torrent  of  unmerited  obloquy  and  opposition.  Such  an  assem- 
blage of  unusual  qualifications  and  virtues  as  adorned  the  character 
of  our  departed  friend  but  seldom  unite  in  a  single  man." 

Mr.  Bryan  is  not  mentioned  in  the  "  Extract "  from  Dr.  Ewing's 
Discourse  as  the  author  of  the  Act,  but  in  a  note,  probably  appended 
by  Mr.  Carey,  and  which  contains  an  obituary  account,  from  Dun- 
lap's  American  Advertiser,  his  life  and  character  are  thus  portrayed  :* 
"Previously  to  the  Revolution,  he  was  a  representative  in  the 
General  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  and  delegate  in  the  Congress 
which  met  at  New  York,  in  1765,  for  the  purpose  of  petitioning  and 
remonstrating  against  the  Stamp  Act  and  other  arbitrary  measures 
of  the  British  Parliament. 

""  In  the  contest,  he  took  an  early,  decisive,  and  active  part  with  this 
country.  When,  by  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  it  became 
necessary  to  erect  governments  upon  the  authority  of  the  people,  he 
was  appointed  Vice-President  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council  of 
this  Commonwealth ;  and,  by  the  unfortunate  death  of  the  late 
President  Wharton,  in  May,  HIS,  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
government  of  Pennsylvania,  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  that 
turbulent  and  eventful  year.  His  office  having  expired  by  the  limi- 
tation of  the  Constitution,  in  the  autumn  of  1779,  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Legislature.  In  this  station,  amidst  the  jircssing 
hurry  of  business,  the  rage  and  clamors  of  party,  and  the  tumult  of 
war  and  invasion,  in  despite  of  innumerable  prejudices,  he  planned 

and  executed  the  'Act  for  the  Gradual  Abolition  of  Slavery,'' a 

monument  which,  instead  of  mouldering  like  the  proud  structures  of 
brass  and  marble,  bids  fair  to  flourish  in  increasing  strength. 

"  He  was  afterwards  appointed  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in 
which  office  he  continued  till  his  death ;  and  during  his  exercise  of  it, 
he  was,  in  1784,  elected  one  of  the  Council  of  Censors,  under  the  late 
Constitution,  of  which  body  he  was  (to  say  the  least)  one  of  the 
principal  and  leading  characters.  *  *  *  *  Besides  the  offices  which 
have  been  enumerated,  he  filled  a  variety  of  public,  literar}-,  and 
charitable  employments  :  in  some  of  which  he  was  almost  continually 

*  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  February  2,  1791,  contains  a  copy  of  the  same 
notice. 


410  NOTES. 

engaf^ctl, — and  in  all  of  which  he  was  highly  active  and  useful.  *  *  ♦ 
The  firmness  of  his  resolution  was  invincible,  and  the  mildness  of  his 
temper  never  changed.  His  knowledge  was  very  extensive;  the 
strength  of  his  memory  verified  what  has  been  thought  incredible  or 
fabulous,  when  related  of  others.  His  judgment  was  correct,  his 
modesty  extreme,  his  benevolence  unbounded,  and  his  piety  un- 
affected and  exemplary.  *  *  *  If  he  failed  in  any  duty,  it  was  that 
he  ivas  possibly  too  disinterested, — his  oion  interest  was  almost  the 
only  thing  he  ever  forgot." 

In  the  Arch  Street  Presbyterian  Burying-ground,  the  inscription 
upon  his  tomb  records  (and  his  memory  deserves  a  more  fitting 
memorial)  that  he  "died  2Yth  of  January,  1191,  aged  sixty  years; 
that  be  was  among  the  earliest  and  most  active  and  uniform  friends 
of  the  rights  of  man  before  the  Revolutionary  War.  As  a  member 
of  the  Assemby  of  Pennsylvania  and  of  the  Congress  at  New  York, 
in  IT 65,  and  as  a  citizen,  he  was  conspicuous  in  opposition  to  the 
Stamp  and  other  Acts  of  British  tyranny.  He  Avas  equally  an  oppo- 
nent of  Domestic  Slavery.  The  emancipation  of  people  of  color 
engaged  the  feelings  of  his  heart  and  the  energies  of  his  mind,  and 
the  Act  of  Abolition,  which  laid  the  foundation  of  their  liberation, 
issued  from  his  pen.'''' 

The  itq,lics  are  our  own.  Against  this  emphatic  testimony,  no  word 
of  dissent,  so  far  as  we  know,  w^as  ever  raised.  And  it  is  not  to 
be  believed  that  his  right  to  authorship,  asserted  with  the  know- 
ledge of  his  associates  in  his  philanthropic  work — at  the  very  period 
of  his  death  —  in  the  public  prints,  and  also  upon  his  tomb,  would 
have  remained  uncontradicted  had  it  been  unfounded. 

The  Preamble,  in  which  the  claims  to  human  liberty  are  so 
grandly  and  convincingly  set  forth,  is  not  readily  accessible  ;  and  we 
trust  w^e  shall  be  excused  for  here  presenting  it : 

"  When  we  contemplate  our  abhorrence  of  that  condition  to  which 
the  arms  and  tyranny  of  Great  Britain  were  exerted  to  reduce  us, 
when  we  look  back  on  the  variety  of  dangers  to  w^hich  we  have  been 
exposed,  and  how  miraculously  our  wants  in  many  instances  have 
been  supplied  and  our  deliverances  wrought,  when  even  hope  and 
human  fortitude  have  become  unequal  to  the  conflict,  we  are  unavoid- 
ably led  to  a  serious  and  grateful  sense  of  the  manifold  blessings 
which  we  have  undeservedly  received  from  the  hand  of  that  Being 
from  whom  every  good  and  perfect  gift  cometh.  Impressed  with 
these  ideas,  we  conceive  that  it  is  our  duty,  and  we  rejoice  that  it  is 


NOTES.  411 

in  our  power,  to  extend  a  portion  of  that  freedom  to  others  which 
hath  been  extended  to  us,  and  release  from  that  state  of  thraldom,  to 
which  we  ourselves  were  tyrannically  doomed,  and  from  which  we 
have  now  every  prospect  of  being  delivered.  It  is  not  for  us  to  in- 
quire why,  in  the  creation  of  mankind,  the  inhabitants  of  the  several 
parts  of  the  earth  were  distinguished  by  a  difference  in  feature  or 
complexion.  It  is  sufficient  to  know  that  all  are  the  work  of  an 
Almighty  hand.  We  find,  in  the  distribution  of  the  human  species, 
that  the  most  fertile  as  well  as  the  most  barren  parts  of  the  earth  are 
inhabited  by  men  of  complexion  different  from  ours  and  from  each 
other ;  from  whence  we  may  reasonably  as  well  as  religiously  infer, 
that  He  who  placed  them  in  their  various  situations,  hath  extended 
equally  his  care  and  protection  to  all,  and  that  it  becometh  not  us  to 
counteract  his  mercies.  We  esteem  it  a  peculiar  blessing  granted  to 
us  that  we  are  enabled  this  day  to  add  one  more  step  to  universal 
civilization,  by  removing,  as  much  as  possible,  the  sorrows  of  those 
who  have  lived  on  under  cruel  bondage,  and  upon  which,  by  the 
assumed  authority  of  the  Kings  of  Great  Britain,  no  effectual  legal 
relief  could  be  obtained.  Weaned  by  a  long  course  of  experience 
from  those  narrow  prejudices  and  partialities  we  had  imbibed,  we 
find  our  hearts  enlarged  with  kindness  and  benevolence  towards  men 
of  all  conditions  and  nations ;  and  we  conceive  ourselves  at  this  par- 
ticular period  extraordinarily  called  upon,  by  the  blessings  which  we 
have  received,  to  manifest  the  sincerity  of  our  profession,  and  to  give 
a  substantial  proof  of  our  gratitude, 

"  And  whereas  the  condition  of  those  persons  who  have  heretofore 
been  denominated  Negro  and  Mulatto  Slaves,  has  been  attended 
with  circumstances  which  not  only  deprived  them  of  the  common 
blessings  that  they  were  by  nature  entited  to,  but  has  cast  them  into 
the  deepest  afflictions  by  an  unnatural  separation  and  sale  of  husband 
and  wife  from  each  other  and  from  their  children,  an  injury  the  great- 
ness of  which  can  only  be  conceived  by  supposing  that  we  were  in 
the  same  unhappy  case.  In  justice,  therefore,  to  persons  so  un- 
happily circumstances,  and  who,  having  no  prospect  before  them 
whereon  they  may  rest  their  sorrows  and  their  hopes,  have  no 
reasonable  inducement  to  render  their  services  to  society,  which 
they  otherwise  might;  and  also  in  grateful  commemoration  of  our 
own  happy  deliverance  from  that  state  of  unconditional  submission 
to  which  we  were  doomed  by  the  tyranny  of  Britain. 

"Be  it  enacted,  &c."* — Editor. 

*  I.  Dallas'  Laws,  838. 


412  NOTES. 

In  1844  Mr.  Nathan  Kite  accidentally  discovered,  amon^  some  of 
the  papers  belonging  to  the  Society  of  Friends  in  Philadelphia,  this 
valual)lc  and  long  sought  docuinont.  lie  immediately  caused  it  to 
be  printed  in  xvii.  vol.  of  the  "Friend,"  p.  125,  and  remarks: 

"  The  testimony  of  the  Friends  at  Germantown  againist  slavery,* 
sent  up  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  1688,  has,  within  the  last  few 
days,  been  discovered.  These  Friends  were  Germans,  and  mostly 
from  Crcsheim,  a  town  not  far  from  Worms  in  the  Palatinate.  They 
bad  suffered  persecution  in  their  own  country,  and  seem  to  have  had 
a  very  correct  appreciation  of  the  rights  of  others.  *  *  *  Coming 
from  a  country  Avhere  oppression  on  account  of  color  was  unknown, 
and  where  buying,  selling,  and  holding  in  bondage  human  beings, 
who  had  been  legally  convicted  of  no  crime,  was  regarded  as  an  act 
of  cruelty  and  injustice,  to  be  looked  for  from  the  hands  of  none 
but  a  Turk  or  barbarian,  the  members  of  this  little  community 
were  shocked  to  see  that  negro  slavery  had  taken  root,  and  was 
increasing  around  them.  *  *  *  It  is  certainly  a  strong  document, 
and  whilst  it  bears  evidence  that  the  writers  had  an  incompetent 
knowledge  of  the  English  language,  it  plainly  demonstrates  that  they 
were  well  acquainted  with  the  inalienable  rights  of  man  and  with 
the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  We  publish  it  as  it  is  in  the  original,  and 
doubt  not  that  our  readers  will  find  sufficient  clearness  in  the  argu- 
ment, notwithstanding  some  confusion  in  the  use  of  prepositions." 

"THIS  IS   TO   THE   MONTHLY   MEETING   HELD   AT    RICHARD   WORRELL'S : 

"  These  are  the  reasons  why  we  are  against  the  traffic  of  men- 
body,  as  followeth.     Is  there  any  that  would  be  done  or  handled  at 

*  The  poet  Whittier  celebrates  the  praises  of  these  lovers  of  liberty  for  all 
in  the  following  lines  : 

"Lay's  modest  soul,  and  Benezet  the  mild, 
Steadfast  in  faith,  yet  gentle  as  a  child ; 
Meek-hearted  Woolman  and  that  brother  band, 
The  sorrowing  exiles  from  their  '  Father  Land.' 
Leaving  their  homes  in  Krieshiem's  bowers  of  vine, 
And  the  bine  beauty  of  their  glorious  Rhine, 
To  seek,  amidst  our  solemn  depths  of  wood. 
Freedom  for  man  and  holy  peace  with  God ; 
Who  first  of  all  their  testimonial  gave 
Against  the  oppressor  for  the  outcast  slave." 

Whittier's  Poems,  168,  Edition  of  Mussey  &  Co.,  Boston,  1845. 


NOTES.  413 

this  manner?  viz.,  to  be  sold  or  made  a  slave  for  all  the  time  of  his 
life  ?  How  fearful  and  faint-hearted  are  many  on  sea,  when  they  see 
a  strange  vessel, — being  afraid  it  should  be  a  Turk,  and  they  should 
be  taken,  and  sold  for  slaves  into  Turkey.  Xow  what  is  this  better 
done  than  Turks  do  ?  Yea,  rather  is  it  worse  for  them,  which  say 
they  are  Christians;  for  we  hear  that  the  most  part  of  such  negers  are 
brought  hither  against  their  will  and  consent,  and  that  many  of  them 
are  stolen.  Now,  though  they  are  black,  we  cannot  conceive  there  is 
more  liberty  to  have  them  slaves,  as  [than]  it  is  to  have  other  white 
ones.  There  is  a  saying,  that  w^e  shall  do  to  all  men  like  as  we  will 
be  done  ourselves ;  making  no  difference  of  what  generation,  descent 
or  color  they  are.  And  those  who  steal  or  robb  men,  and  those  who 
buy  or  purchase  them,  are  they  not  all  alike  ?  Here  is  liberty  of 
conscience,  which  is  right  and  reasonable ;  here  ought  to  be  likewise 
liberty  of  the  body,  except  of  evil-doers,  which  is  another  case.  But 
to  bring  men  hither,  or  to  rob  and  sell  them  against  their  "will,  we 
stand  against.  In  Europe  there  are  many  oppressed  for  conscience 
sake  ;  and  here  there  are  those  oppressed  which  are  of  a  black  colour. 
And  we  who  know  that  men  must  not  commit  adultery, — some  do 
commit  adultery  m  others,  separating  wives  from  their  husbands  and 
giving  them  to  others ;  and  some  sell  the  children  of  these  poor 
creatures  to  other  men.  Ah !  do  consider  well  this  thing,  you 
who  do  it,  if  you  would  be  done  at  this  manner  ?  and  if  it  is  done 
according  to  Christianity  ?  You  surpass  Holland  and  Germany  in 
this  thing.  This  makes  an  ill  report  in  all  those  countries  of  Europe, 
where  they  hear  of  [it],  that  the  Quakers  do  here  handel  men  as 
they  handel  there  the  cattle.  And  for  that  reason  some  have  no 
mind  or  Inclination  to  come  hither.  And  who  shall  maintain  thia 
your  cause,  or  plead  for  it  ?  Truly  we  cannot  do  so,  except  you  shall 
inform  us  better  hereof,  viz.,  that  Christians  have  liberty  to  practise 
these  things.  Pray,  what  thing  in  the  world  can  be  done  worse 
towards  us,  than  if  men  should  rob  or  steal  us  away,  and  sell  us  for 
slaves  to  strange  countries;  separating  husbands  from  their  wives 
and  children.  Being  now  this  is  not  done  in  the  manner  we  would 
be  done  at  [by],  therefore  we  contradict,  and  are  against  this  traffic 
of  men-body.  And  we  who  profess  that  it  is  not  lawful  to  steal, 
must,  likewise,  avoid  to  purchase  such  things  as  are  stolen,  but 
rather  help  to  stop  this  robbing  and  stealing  if  possible.  And  such 
men  ought  to  be  delivered  out  of  the  hands  of  the  robbers,  and  set 
free  as  in  Europe.*     Then  is  Pennsylvania  to  have  a  good  report, 

*  "  Alluding  probably  to  the  abolition  of  the  old  feudal  system." 


414  NOTES. 

instead  it  hath  now  a  bad  one  for  this  sake  in  other  countries. 
Especially  whereas  the  Europeans  are  desirous  to  know  in  what 
manner  the  Quakers  do  rule  in  their  province : — and  most  of  them  do 
look  upon  us  with  an  envious  eye.  But  if  this  is  done  well,  what 
shall  we  say  is  done  evil  ? 

"  If  once  these  slaves  (which  they  say  are  so  wicked  and  stuhbom 
men)  should  join  themselves, — fight  for  their  freedom, — and  handel 
their  masters  and  mistresses  as  they  did  handel  them  before ;  will 
these  masters  and  mistresses  take  the  sword  at  hand  and  war  against 
these  poor  slaves,  like,  we  are  able  to  believe,  some  will  not  refuse  to 
do  ?  or  have  these  negers  not  as  much  right  to  fight  for  their  freedom, 
as  you  have  to  keep  them  slaves? 

"  Now  consider  well  this  thing,  if  it  is  good  or  bad  ?  And  in  case 
you  find  it  to  be  good  to  handel  these  blacks  at  that  manner,  we 
desire  and  require  you  hereby  lovingly,  that  you  may  inform  us  here- 
in, which  at  this  time  never  was  done,  viz.,  that  Christians  have  such 
a  liberty  to  do  so.  To  the  end  we  shall  [may]  be  satisfied  in  this 
point,  and  satisfy  likewise  our  good  friends  and  acquaintances  in  our 
native  country,  to  whom  it  is  a  terror  or  fearful  thing,  that  men 
should  be  handelled  so  in  Pennsylvania. 

"This  is  from  our  meeting  at  Germantown,  held  y°  18  of  the  2 
month,  1688,  to  be  delivered  to  the  Monthly  Meeting  at  Richard 
Worrell's.  Garret  henderich 

derick  up  de  graeff 
Francis  daniell  Pastorius 
Abraham  jr.  Den  graef, 

"At  our  Monthly  Meeting  at  Dublin,  y°  30 — 2  mo.,  1688,  we  having 
inspected  y"  matter  above  mentioned,  and  considered  of  it,  we  find  it 
so  weighty  that  we  think  it  not  expedient  for  us  to  meddle  with  it 
here,  but  do  rather  commit  it  to  y"  consideration  of  y*  Quarterly 
Meeting;  y''  tenor  of  it  being  nearly  related  to  y*  Truth. 

"  On  behalf  of  y'  Monthly  Meeting, 

"Signed,  P,  Jo.  Hart. 

"  This,  above  mentioned,  was  read  in  our  Quarterly  Meeting,  at 
Philadelphia,  the  4  of  y'  4th  mo.,  '88,  and  was  from  thence  recom- 
mended to  the  Yearly  Meeting,  and  the  above  said  Derick,  and  the 
other  two  mentioned  therein,  to  present  the  same  to  y°  above  said 
meeting,  it  being  a  thing  of  too  great  a  weight  for  this  meeting  to 
determine. 

"  Signed  by  order  of  y"  meeting, 

Anthony  Morris." 


NOTES.  415 

The  Act  of  1*705  was  entitled,  "An  Act  to  prevent  the  importation 
of  Indian  slaves," 

"  If,  after  the  25  March,  1Y06,  any  person  shall  import  or  cause  to 
be  imported  any  Indian  slaves  or  servants  whatsoever,  from  any 
province  or  colony  in  America  into  this  province,  by  land  or  water," 
*  *  *  they  "  shall  be  forfeited  to  the  governor,  and  shall  be  either 
set  at  liberty,  or  otherwise  disposed  of  as  the  governor  and  council 
shall  see  cause."  The  Act  made  an  exception  in  favor  of  "  menial 
servants  in  the  family  of  the  importer,"  &c.,  &c.  —  Bradford  Laws, 
Philadelphia,  1714. 

"An  Impost  Act,  laying  a  duty  on  negroes,  wine,  rum,  and  other 
spirits,  cider,  and  vessels,"  passed  28th,  12th  month,  ITIO. 

Imposed  for  the  space  of  three  years,  from  and  after  the  10th  day 
of  March,  1*110,  a  duty  of  forty  shillings  per  head  on  every  negro 
imported,  excepting  such  as  belonged  to  persons  residing  in  the 
province  and  importing  for  their  own  service,  and  in  case  of  failure 
to  pay  such  duties  under  certain  limitations,  such  negroes  so  landed, 
if  taken,  "  shall  be  forfeited  and  seized,  and  after  due  proof,"  sold 
"for  the  utmost  the  same  will  fetch." 

"An  Act  to  prevent  the  importation  of  negroes  and  Indians  into 
the  province,"  passed  in  1*712. 

The  first  section  imposed  a  payment  of  twenty  pounds  per  head 
upon  every  negro  or  Indian  brought  into  the  province. 

Section  2.  Masters  of  vessels,  &c.,  bringing  them  were  required 
to  make  a  return  of  their  number  and  to  whom  they  belonged ;  "  all 
such  negroes  and  Indians  "  (in  whose  case  any  of  the  provisions 
were  violated)  "  shall  be  seized  and  sold  by  the  said  officer  for  the 
time  being  (hereinafter  named),  and  the  monies  arising  thereby  shall 
be  paid  to  the  provincial  treasurer  for  the  uses  hereinafter  directed." 
Duties  paid  upon  any  negro  or  Indian  imported,  but  to  be  exi^orted 
within  twenty  days,  were  to  be  returned;  all  such  were  to  be 
"  actually  and  bona  fide  forthwith  shipt  off  or  sent  out  of  the  pro- 
vince, so  as  never  to  return  again,  without  complying  anew  with  the 
direction  of  this  Act,  otherwise  all  such  negroes  and  Indians  shall 
be  liable  to  the  same  penalties  and  seizures  as  tho'  the  same  had  never 
before  been  entered." 

3.  Samuel  Holt  appointed  "  to  put  Act  in  execution,  and  shall  by 
virtue  hereof  have  full  power  to  make  strict  enquiry  into  the  premises, 
and  upon  information  or  other  probable  cause  of  suspicion,  without 
any  further  or  other  warrant,  may  [upon  the  parties'  refusal],  with 


416  NOTES. 

the  assistance  of  the  sheriff  or  constable  [who  are  thereby  rcqufred 
to  be  acting  therein],  break  open  any  house  or  place  suspected,  and 
seize  or  cause  to  be  seized  all  such  negroes  or  Indians  as  shall  be 
found  concealed  or  otherwise,  whose  owners  or  possessors  have  not 
complied  with  the  Act  according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning 
thereof;  and  thereupon  to  dispose  of  such  as  shall  be  so  seized,  by  a 
public  vendue,  for  the  most  they  will  yield,  and  when  reasonable 
charges  are  deducted  shall  pay  the  produce  or  price  thereof,  and  all 
other  sums  arising  by  this  Act  (retaining  one  shilling  for  every  pound 
for  his  trouble  therein),  into  the  provincial  treasurer's  hands,"  &c. 

4.  Said  Holt  to  keep  a  distinct  and  fair  book  of  account,  &c.  This 
section  further  provides  that  any  person  prosecuted  for  anything  done 
in  pursuance  of  Act  may  plead  the  general  issue,  and  give  the  Act 
and  special  matter  in  evidence.  The  duty  of  twenty  pounds  was 
not  to  be  exacted  in  the  case  of  those  Indians  or  negroes  belonging 
to  persons  in  the  province,  and  sent  out  of  it  "  on  their  masters' 
business  with  intent  to  return  again."  "  Runaway  negroes  or  Indians  " 
were  subject  to  reclamation  within  twenty  days  after  the  arrival  of 
their  owners  in  the  province,  but  were  to  be  sold  after  the  expiration 
of  twelve  months  in  case  no  owner  appeared.  "  Gentlemen  and 
strangers  travelling  in  the  province  "  were  allowed  to  retain  their 
negro  or  Indian  slaves  for  a  time  not  exceeding  six  months.  —  Brad- 
ford Laws. 

These  Acts  seemed  to  have  had  their  origin  in  policy  rather  than 
in  justice.  If  the  importation  could  be  prevented,  it  was  well ;  if 
not,  the  punishment  fell  upon  the  slave,  but  indirectly  upon  those 
who  attempted  to  violate  the  law.  Had  all  who  were  brought  in 
been  declared  free,  and  those  who  brought  them  punished,  a  course 
would  have  been  pursued  more  in  accordance  Avith  humanity  and 
right.  Such,  however,  was  the  harsh  treatment  of  the  mother  coun- 
try that  even  these  Acts  were  repealed,  and  the  subsequent  modifi- 
cations of  her  views  upon  slavery  and  the  amelioration  of  her  very 
cruel  criminal  code  were  due  to  the  humane  example  of  some  of  those 
States  which  as  colonies  or  provinces  she  had  governed.  — Editor. 


NOTICES 


THE  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


ROBERT     PROUD, 

AUTHOR    OF     "  THE    HISTORY   OF    PENNSYLVANIA." 


CHARLES  WEST  THOMSON. 


Read  hefore  the  Council,  August  IQth,  1826. 

(417) 


NOTICES,  ETC. 


There  are  few  subjects  connected  with  the  history  of 
our  country,  on  which  so  much  remissness  has  been 
observed,  as  in  collecting  and  arranging  authentic  narra- 
tives of  the  lives  of  those  venerable  men  who  have  gone 
before  us,  filling  with  the  most  effective  zeal  and  industry 
the  station  of  literary  and  pohtical  pioneers ;  and,  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  giving  "  to  the  body  of  their  age  its 
form  and  pressure."  The  details  of  many  of  these  narra- 
tives remain  only  in  the  recollection  of  those  few  of  their 
cotemporaries  whom  age  has  spared  j  and  the  unceasing 
tide  of  time,  as  it  sweeps  over  these  even  now  faint  tradi- 
tions, is  daily  effacing  the  impression,  until  at  last,  unless 
transferred  to  a  record  of  greater  perpetuity,  it  shall 
become  utterly  illegible.  It  is,  indeed,  much  to  be  re- 
gretted, that  many  interesting  facts  and  incidents  relating 
to  the  outset  of  our  political  career,  are  thus  becoming 
lost  to  the  world,  for  want  of  some  suitable  hand  to  give 
them  a  form  of  durability.  Sincerely  is  it  to  be  wished 
that  some  of  those,  who  have  now  quit  the  stage  of 
action,  had  employed  a  portion  of  their  leisure  in  commit- 

(419) 


420  Thomson's   notices 

ting  to  paper  those  interesting  and  important  matters 
which  they  had  seen  and  known,  and  which  have  now 
gone  down  with  them  to  the  grave ;  and  still  more  is  it 
now  to  be  desired,  that  the  small  remnant  that  remains, 
will  not  suffer  a  similar  oblivion  to  cover  the  knowledge 
which  they  possess. 

Impressed  with  these  views,  I  have  been  at  some  pains 
to  collect  materials  for  the  following  sketch,  which, 
though  slender  and  in  many  respects  unsatisfactory,  will 
not,  I  trust,  prove  wholly  uninteresting.  Engaged  in  an 
arduous  and  time-engrossing  occupation,  I  have  been 
obliged  to  throw  them  together  as  intervals  of  leisure 
might  offer,  which  I  fear  will  make  their  arrangement 
appear  exceedingly  desultory.  Such  as  they  are,  how- 
ever, I  offer  them  to  the  service  of  the  society,  trusting 
to  superior  abihties  for  their  improvement  and  cor- 
rection. 

Most  of  those  great  and  admirable  men  who  belonged 
to  the  patriarchal  age  of  our  country  are  now  no  more, 
and  too  many  of  them  have  gone  to  their  rest  "un- 
honored  and  unsung."  Unambitious  of  fame  or  futui'e 
renown,  it  is  true  of  many  of  them  that  they  passed  much 
of  their  hves  in  retirement  and  seclusion.  In  the  native 
simplicity  of  their  characters,  they  pursued  the  quiet  path 
of  unaspiring  duty ;  and  while  they  walked  humbly  before 
God,  and  dealt  justly  with  their  fellow-men,  they  asked 
not  the  idle  breath  of  praise  to  give  them  a  celebrity, 
which  they  knew  at  best  could  be  but  vain  and  evanes- 
cent. Among  this  unassuming  class,  perhaps,  one  of  the 
most  obscure  and  retiring  was  Robert  Proud,  the   only 


OF     ROBERT     PROUD.  421 

citizen  of  Pennsylvania  who  has  ever  honored  her  with  a 
History,  or  attempted  to  give  her  a  name  among  the 
nations.  To  the  contemplation  of  some  prominent  in- 
cidents of  his  retired  life,  we  propose  devoting  a  few 
pages. 

He  was  horn,  according  to  a  memorandum  of  his  early 
life  which  he  has  left,  on  the  10th  day  of  May,  1728. 
His  parents,  William  and  Ann  Proud,  were  at  the  time 
residing  in  Yorkshire,  England,  at  a  farm-house  called 
Low  Foxton,  which  was  so  named  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  adjoining  farm  of  High  Foxton,  and  which  has  long 
since  been  entirely  demolished.  It  was  situated  about  a 
mile  distant  from  a  small  market-town  called  Yarm,  on 
the  river  Tees,  which  forms  part  of  the  boundary  line 
between  the  counties  of  Yorkshire  and  Durham.  From 
his  early  years,  he  appears  to  have  been  studiously  dis- 
posed, or  as  he  himself  expresses  it,  "  I  had  a  sense  of 
what  is  good  and  excellent,  and  of  the  contrary;  and 
have  ever  been,  according  to  that  sense,  very  desirous  of 
the  best  things ;  and  therefore  early,  in  my  young  years, 
had  a  strong  inclination  for  learning,  virtue,  and  true 
wisdom,  or  improvement  of  mind  and  mental  felicity, 
before  or  in  preference  to  all  mere  worldly  or  inferior  con- 
siderations ;  which  I  afterwards  rejected  on  that  account, 
when  I  was  courted  by  them,  and  had  it  in  my  power  to 
have  appeared  in  a  much  superior  character  and  station 
in  the  world,  than  I  am  since  known  to  be  in." 

The  first  step  which  he  took  in  the  path  of  learning 
was  at  the  neighboring  village  of  Crathorn,  where  he 
went  to  school  to  acquire  the  rudiments  of  knowledge,  to 


422  Thomson's   notices 

a  person  of  the  name  of  Baxter.  This  circumstance,  as 
far  as  we  are  informed,  presented  in  itself  nothing 
remarkable ;  but  it  is  interesting,  as  being  the  outset  of 
that  career  which  afterwards  stamped  his  character,  and 
produced  so  powerful  an  mfluence  over  his  fortunes. 

When  Robert  was  about  five  or  six  years  of  age,  the 
family  removed  from  Foxton  to  a  farm  fifteen  or  twenty 
miles  distant,  near  the  village  of  Thirsk,  called  Wood 
End,  which  had  long  been  the  seat  and  residence  of  the 
Talbots.  Here  he  continued  to  reside  until  he  was  nearly 
grown  up,  when,  induced  by  his  desire  for  improvement, 
he  obtained  permission  to  leave  his  paternal  mansion,  and 
took  up  his  abode  under  the  roof  of  one  David  Hall,  at 
Skipton,  in  a  distant  part  of  the  same  county  of  York- 
shire. Some  depression  of  spirits,  very  natural  to  a  yomig 
mind  on  its  departure  from  home,  appears  to  have  at- 
tended him  in  the  prospect  as  well  as  the  accompUshment 
of  this  journey;  on  which  he  was  accompanied  by  his 
cousin,  Robert  Proud,  who  afterwards  became  a  preacher 
in  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  visited  America  on  a 
ser^dce  of  ministerial  duty. 

This  David  Hall  was  a  member  of  the  same  society, 
and  also  a  preacher  in  it  j*  and  kept  a  boarding-school,  in 
which  he  taught  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  and 
some  other  branches  of  learning.  The  subject  of  our 
present  notice  had  no  previous  knowledge  of  him,  except- 

*  He  "was  likewise  a  writer  of  some  esteem  in  the  society,  and, 
after  his  death,  some  of  his  productions  were  reprinted,  and  pub- 
lished in  a  small  octavo  volume,  with  a  sketch  of  his  life  written  by 
himself. 


OF     ROBERT    PROUD.  423 

ing  by  name  and  character ;  but  he  was  a  man,  it  seems, 
of  some  literary  reputation;  and,  as  Proud  says  in  his 
memorandum,  "  esteemed  one  of  the  most  learned,  reput- 
able, and  most  worthy  persons  then  in  that  part  of  Eng- 
land." The  preceptor  and  the  pupil  appear,  however,  to 
have  been  well  pleased  with  each  other;  and  a  firm 
friendship  was  cemented  between  them,  which  continued 
unremitted  until  the  death  of  Hall,  till  which  time  they 
maintained  a  correspondence  in  the  Latin  tongue. 

Robert  remained  in  the  house  of  his  esteemed  tutor,  at 
Skipton,  about  four  years,  with  great  satisfaction  and 
improvement.  It  was  not  his  original  intention  to  devote 
himself  particularly  to  the  languages,  but  merely  to  ad- 
vance himself  in  some  parts  of  mathematics,  and  enjoy 
the  improving  conversation  of  his  instructor.  By  his  per- 
suasion, however,  he  applied  himself  to  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  soon  made  considerable  proficiency. 

But  another  change  was  now  to  be  made,  still  more 
trying  than  the  former,  to  a  young  and  inexperienced 
mind.  To  London,  that  "resort  and  mart  of  all  the 
earth,"  was  the  next  remove,  which  he  effected  in  the 
year  1750,  being  then  about  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
taking  with  him  a  recommendation  from  his  affectionate 
preceptor.  After  some  time,  by  the  influence  of  his  kind 
friend  and. relative,  the  illustrious  Dr.  John  Fothergill, 
who,  unlike  some  high  professors  of  the  present  day, 
"  was  a  great  friend  of  learning,  and  a  zealous  promoter 
of  true  mental  improvement,  and  a  lover  of  all  useful 
science,"  (such  is  Proud's  eulogy,)  he  obtained  an  agree- 
able temporary  situation  in  the  famihes  of  Sylvanus  and 


424  Thomson's   notices 

Timothy  Bcvan.*  These  gentlemen  had  an  establiah- 
meut  in  London  ;  but  their  country-seat,  at  Hackney, 
about  two  miles  distant  from  the  city,  was  generally  the 
place  of  Robert's  residence.  In  this  retirement  he  first 
assumed  the  office  of  a  preceptor,  occupying  a  consider- 
able part  of  his  time  in  the  tuition  of  the  two  young 
Bevans,  sons  of  the  last-named  gentleman.     He  took  the 


*  Sylvauus  Bcvan  was  originally  from  "Wales,  and  was  early  in 
life  introduced  to  William  Pcnn,  who  afterwards  became  his  intimate 
acquaintance,  friend,  and  patron.     He  had  two  wives,  the  first  of 
whom  was  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Quare,  watchmaker  to  King  William 
III.,  and  the  second  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Heathcott,  who  served  the 
same  monarch  in  the  capacity  of  physician.     A  curious  anecdote  is 
related  in  reference  to  his  marriage  with   the  latter.      The  parties 
being  all  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  the  father  of  the 
bride  holding  so  exalted  a  station,  it  was  feared  too  much  attention 
and  display  would  be  excited,  if  the  marriage  were  solemnized  at  the 
regular  meeting  for  worship ;  accordingly,  the  day  before  was  speci- 
ally appointed  for  that  purpose,  in  the  hope  that  it  would  not  be 
generally   known.      Notwithstanding   this   precaution,  however,   as 
mostly  happens  on  such  occasions,  the  secret  soon  transpired,  and  a 
splendid  assembly  was  collected  to  witness  the  nuptials.     The  queen 
and  princesses  were  present,  and  it  was  said  that  the  king  himself 
attended  incog.     There  lived  a  few  miles  from  town  an  old  lady  of 
the  name  of  Alice  Hays,  a  good  honest  woman,  and  moreover  a 
preacher  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  who,  under  an  idea  of  religious 
duty,    went  that   morning    to   London,    and   attended    the    above- 
mentioned  meeting.     George  Whitehead,  well  known  as  a  preacher 
in  the  same  society,  attempted  some  observations  appropriate  to  the 
occasion,  endeavoring  to  elucidate  the  trite  maxim,  that  the  man  is 
the  head  of  the  woman.     When  he  had  concluded,  Alice  Hays  rose 
and  remarked,  that  some  objection  might  be  offered  to  what  had  been 
said,  for  it  was  asserted  in  Scripture  that  a  virtuous  woman  is  a 
crown  to  her  husband,  and  that  it  was  well  known  that  the  crown 
is  above  the  head.     The  queen  and  princesses  were  so  much  pleased 
with  the  wit  of  the  remark,  that  the  next  day  they  made  her  a 
visit. 


OF     ROBERT     PROUD.  425 

opportmiitj,  however,  in  his  intervals  of  leisure,  of  culti- 
vating his  own  improvement  in  literature  and  science,  in 
the  hope  that,  at  some  future  period,  it  might  redound  to 
his  own  advantage,  or  at  least  enable  him  to  become  a 
useful  member  of  society.  Amid  all  the  ardor  of  study 
which  he  evinced,  the  desire  to  render  his  attainments 
subservient  to  the  good  of  his  fellow  beings  seemed  to  be 
a  paramount  consideration ;  and  sometimes,  as  has  before 
been  hinted,  occasioned  the  neglect  of  his  own  immediate 
interests.  He  was  now  placed  in  a  situation  where  he 
could  indulge  this  propensity;  and  his  views  were  still 
intensely  directed,  as  though  he  had  prophetically  fore- 
seen his  coming  labors  in  the  land  of  his  adoption,  not 
only  to  his  "  own  future  advantage,  but  also  to  that  of 
others."  He  pursued  knowledge,  at  this  time,  for  its  owix 
sake  J  the  amor  literarum  with  which  he  was  infected  was 
a  sublime  hallucination,  and  taught  him  to  look  on  pecu- 
niary aggrandizement  as  mean  and  contemptible,  or,  in  his 
own  language,  "as  the  most  despicable  of  worldly  objects." 
But  he  had  occasion  to  regret  in  after  life,  with  a  feeling 
of  blight  and  disappointment  which  usually  attends  such 
minds,  his  inattention  to  the  good  things  of  this  world, 
and  was  obliged  to  acknowledge,  that  though  "honor  and 
fame  from  no  condition  rise,"  yet  the  circumstances  in 
which  we  are  placed  in  society  do  more  or  less  intimately 
affect  our  happiness.  A  man  of  genius,  illy  provided  in 
this  res23ect,  must,  generally  speaking,  either  select  his 
associates  from  among  those  who  are  beneath  his  level  in 
intellect  or  else  experience  much  difficulty,  as  Proud  did, 
in  order  to  act  in  proper  character   and  maintain  the 


426  Thomson's   notices 

standing  liis  education  would  seem  to  demand.  Tliis,  to 
a  sensitive  mind,  would  be  equally  trying  on  either  side ; 
and  it  will  easily  be  conceived  how  deeply  such  a  one 
must  feel  the  deprivations  of  fortune,  even  though  not 
subjected  to  "  any  immediate  want  or  extraordinary 
necessity."  Narrow  circumstances,  he  also  discovered, 
were  no  small  impediment  to  entering  into  the  married 
state,  a  situation  which,  in  his  early  years,  he  seems  to 
have  ardently  desired,  as  conducing  materially  to  the 
felicity  of  the  human  mind.  But,  like  Moses  on  Mount 
Pisgah,  he  only  perceived  the  excellency  ^f  the  promised 
land,  but  was  never  permitted  to  obtain  the  possession. 

From  the  preceding  remarks  it  will  be  inferred,  that, 
during  his  residence  in  London,  Robert  Proud  was  intro- 
duced into  a  very  different  rank  of  society,  and  moved  in 
a  much  higher  sphere,  than  that  to  which  he  had  before 
been  accustomed.  It  was  his  good  fortune,  which  he 
acknowledges  as  a  favor  from  the  Divine  hand,  to  receive 
from  those  with  whom  he  then  associated  the  most  re- 
spectful notice  and  attention.  From  the  intimacy  which 
he  thus  enjoyed  with  Dr.  Fothergill  and  other  celebrated 
members  of  the  medical  profession,  he  was  induced  to 
apply  himself  to  the  study  of  that  science ;  and,  having 
ample  opportunity  of  obtaining  the  best  information  on 
subjects  relating  to  it,  he  continued  the  pm'suit  for  several 
years,  with  a  success  fully  adequate  to  his  expectations. 
His  views  of  the  practice  of  physic  were  noble  and  ex- 
alted; and  the  same  desire  to  labor  for  the  benefit  of 
mankind,  which  had  stimulated  him  to  exertion  in  his 
former  employments,  followed  him  into  his  present  occu- 


OF    ROBERT    PROUD.  427 

pation,    and    urged   him    to    pursue    it    with    increased 
assiduity. 

But  there  is  a  species  of  professional  disgust,  (I  know 
not  what  else  to  term  it,)  which  sometimes  seizes  upon 
men  of  the  strongest  mind  and  most  vigorous  intellect, 
and  throws,  by  its  paralyzing  influence,  a  pervading  spell 
over  the  whole  of  their  future  life.  Our  admired  coun- 
tryman, the  late  Charles  Brockden  Brown,  was  an  inter- 
esting instance  of  this  singular  malady.  Few  men,  per- 
haps, have  had  a  fairer  o|)portunity  of  rising  to  enviable 
reputation  at  the  bar  than  he ;  and  fewer  still  have  pos- 
sessed abilities  so  adequate  to  enable  them  to  ascend  the 
steep  of  fame  with  ease  and  rapidity.  To  his  elegant, 
powerful,  and  comprehensive  mind,  the  law  opened  a  field 
of  active  enterprise  and  tempting  emolument,  and  for  a 
tune  the  race  was  promising.  But  ere  the  goal  was  fairly 
out  of  view,  this  malum,  magni  animi  laid  its  withering 
grasp  upon  his  energies,  and  he  retired  in  disgust  from 
the  ranks  of  legal  competition.  A  similar  fate  awaited 
the  subject  of  our  narrative.  With  the  fairest  prospect 
of  success  before  him,  he  became  dissatisfied  with  his 
situation.  It  exposed  him,  he  remarks,  "  to  a  very  glaring 
view  of  the  chief  causes  of  those  diseases  (not  to  say  idces) 
which  occasioned  the  greatest  emolument  to  the  profession 
of  medicine  j"  and,  upon  this  ground  (the  solidity  of  which 
we  leave  to  others  to  determine),  his  aversion  to  it  became 
so  insuperable,  that  he  at  once  abandoned  the  pursuit,  and 
with  it  his  country.  For  this  last  singular  step  we  find 
it  difBcult  to  account.  He  gives  no  reason  for  it  himself 
in  the  memorandum  to  which  we  have  referred,  excepting 


428  tkomson's   notices 

some  vague  idea  that  it  was  taken  "on  account  of  that 
satisfaction  of  mind  which  much  acquaintance,  popularity, 
and  fame,  or  the  hurry  of  much  employment,  crowds  and 
large  cities  seldom  afford."  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable, 
that  so  important  an  action  of  his  life  should  have  a  cause 
assigned  for  it  so  very  unsatisfactory.* 

On  the  third  day  of  January,  1759,  Robert  Proud 
landed  at  Lewistown,  in  the  State  of  Delaware,  and  three 
days  after  arrived  in  Philadelphia.  lie  left  behind  him, 
in  England,  three  brothers  and  two  sisters,  of  whom  little 
is  known.  His  parents,  it  appears,  were  yet  Hving  at  the 
time  of  his  emigration,  and,  while  they  remained,  it  is 
said,  he  at  one  period  thought  of  returning  to  his  native 
land ;  but  they,  in  the  course  of  nature,  were  removed, — 
the  auspicious  season  passed  away, — and  his  wish  was 
never  accomplished.  The  first  person  with  whom  he 
took  up  his  residence,  after  his  arrival,  was  one  Isaac 

*  There  is  a  tradition  abroad  respecting  his  emigration  from 
England,  which  it  may  not,  perhaps,  be  amiss  to  mention,  although, 
as  far  as  we  can  learn,  there  is  little  warrant  for  its  authenticity.  He 
seldom  or  never  spoke  on  the  subject,  and  has,  consequently,  left  the 
matter  open  to  conjecture.  It  is  said  that  he  had  formed  an  attach- 
ment to  a  young  lady  of  great  beauty,  to  whom,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
he  was  under  engagement  of  marriage,  which,  being  broken  off  by 
the  interference  of  royal  gallantry,  produced  a  disappointment,  which 
is  spoken  of  as  the  cause  of  his  voluntary  exile.  This,  however,  it 
will  be  remembered,  is  merely  tradition.  Another  individual  was 
well  known  at  one  time  as  having  incurred  a  disappointment  of  the 
nature  alluded  to,  and  having  had  some  acquaintance  with  Proud,  it 
is  supposed  by  the  friends  of  the  latter  that  the  circumstance  has 
thus  been  incorrectly  imputed  to  him.  There  seems,  nevertheless,  to 
be  some  slight  ground  for  the  belief,  that  our  historian  did  at  one 
period  sutfer  a  similar  discomfiture,  but  not  with  the  person  or  in  the 
manner  generally  reported. 


OF     ROBERT     PROUD.  429 

Greenleaf,*  at  whose  house,  however,  he  remained  but  a 
few  months.  He  changed  the  place  of  his  abode  fre- 
quently during  the  first  twenty  years  of  his  residence  in 
Philadelphia  and  its  neighborhood.  During  that  time,  he 
resided,  at  three  different  intervals,  with  his  worthy 
friend,  Anthony  Behezet;  and  he  frequently  spoke,  with 
great  satisfaction,  of  the  many  pleasant  hours  he  had 
spent  in  the  company  of  that  estimable  man,  and  those 
other  venerable  characters  who  were  accustomed  to  resort 
to  his  humble  dwelling.f  Finallj^,  however,  in  the 
autumn  of  1779,  he  went  to  reside  -with  Samuel  Clark, 
in  whose  family  he  continued,  without  intermission, 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  a  lapse  of  more  than 
thirty  years. 

From  the  period  of  his  arrival  in  America,  his  hfe 
assumed  a  monotonous  aspect,  very  unfavorable  to  bio- 
graphical interest.  Eetired  in  his  habits,  he  pursued 
"the  noiseless  tenor  of  his  way;"  and  seldom  coming 
before  the  public  eye,  the  memory  of  many  of  his  days 
has  gone  down  with  him  to  the  grave.  Many  years 
previous,  a  public  school  or  seminary  had  been  estab- 
lished  by   the    Society   of  Friends,  one   department   of 


*  Merely  for  the  sake  of  correctness,  it  maj  be  as  well  to  observe, 
that  he  staid  previous]}*,  for  a  day  or  two,  at  the  house  of  his  friend, 
Mordecai  Yarnall,  who  was  the  companion  of  his  voyage. 

f  Proud  used  to  compare  Benezet's  house  to  a  ship's  cabin,  it 
being  below  the  level  of  the  ground,  with  descending  steps  to  the 
door.  This  antiquated  building  stood  in  Chestnut  Street  below 
Fourth,  nearly  opposite  our  present  Pos1>ofiBce,  and  was  removed,  in 
the  year  1818,  to  make  room  for  a  more  modern  edifice.  A  sketch 
of  it  has  been  preserved  by  Roberts  Vaux,  Esq. 


430  Thomson's   notices 

which  was  appropriated  to  instruction  in  the  classics ; 
and  in  this  school,  about  the  year  17G1,  Proud  took  his 
station  as  teacher  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages.  lie 
continued  in  this  situation  until  the  commencement  of 
the  Revolutionary  War,  when  he  relinquished  the  precep- 
torship,  and  engaged  in  an  unfortunate  mercantile  con- 
cern with  his  youngest  brother,  John  Proud,  who  was 
then  a  resident  in  this  country.  Robert  was  then  an 
ardent  royalist :  he  could  not  for  a  moment  entertain  an 
idea  unfavorable  to  the  success  of  the  king's  cause,  and 
made  his  calculations  in  business  accordingly.  The  result 
proved  adverse  to  his  expectations  and  his  hopes, — the 
colonies  became  independent,  and  his  commercial  affairs 
went  to  ruin.  His  brother  returned  to  England,  and 
Robert,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  again  resumed  the 
school. 

The  total  discomfiture  of  the  royal  cause,  to  which  his 
affections  were  so  closely  wedded,  and  the  consequent 
failure  of  his  own  private  fortunes,  seemed  to  have  soured 
his  feelings  towards '  the  land  of  Jbis  adoption ;  and, 
although  his  ideas  of  prudence  induced  much  tacitm-nity 
on  the  subject,  yet  he  has  occasionally  expressed  himself 
in  rather  unkindly  terms  towards  this  countrj^,  in  some 
of  the  papers  which  he  has  left  behind  him.  With  regard, 
however,  to  his  sentiments  on  this  topic,  it  must  be  re- 
membered, by  way  of  extenuation,  that  he  had  left  his 
own  country  under  pecuhar  circumstances,  with  all  those 
powerful  attachments,  not  to  say  prejudices,  which  every 
true  patriot  should  feel  for  his  native  land, — that  so  lou"- 
as  the  colonies  remained  under   the  government  of  the 


OF     ROBERT     PROUD.  431 

motlier  country,  he  seemed,  in  some  measure,  to  retain  a 
hold  upon  his  birth-place, — that  the  dismemberment  of 
the  colonies  broke  this  tie,  and  totally  severed  him  from 
the  home  of  his  affections.  The  ardent  spirit  of  the 
times,  moreover,  must  be  taken  into  consideration;  the 
treasonable  character  which  the  contest  was  thought  by 
many  to  present,  must  also  be  remembered ;  and  combin- 
ing these  with  those  fierce  and  unfriendly  passions  which 
a  civil  war  invariably  awakens,  we  must  forgive  Proud, 
Enghshman  as  he  was  by  birth,  and  fretted  as  he  had 
been  by  early  disappointment  and  later  misfortune,  if  he 
did  prefer  the  land  of  his  nativity  to  the  land  of  his 
adoption,  and  in  that  trying  and,  in  its  results,  glorious 
struggle,  gave  his  full  and  undivided  heart  and  feelings 
to  the  furtherance  of  the  Tory  interests. 

It  is  not  a  Httle  singular,  that,  under  this  full  tide  of 
political  excitement  against  the  colonies,  the  subject  of 
our  notice  should  have  projected  and,  in  a  few  years, 
absolutely  accomplished,  a  History  of  Pennsylvania, — the 
only  history  of  our  State  which  has  ever  been  attempted,* 
and  which  is  rendered  more  valuable  on  that  account 
than  from  any  intrinsic  merit  it  possesses.  I  do  not  say 
that  it  is  valuable  on  that  account  only ;  for,  as  a  succinct 
collection  of  historical  facts,  it  undoubtedly  deserves  the 
most  respectful  attention ;  but  its  style  is  too  dry,  and  its 
diction  too  inelegant,  ever  to  render  it  a  classical  work,  or 
to  enable  it  to  stand  before  a  more  graceful  competitor. 
It  is  exactly  that  stately  old-fashioned  article  that  its 

*  We  are  happy  to  hope  that  Mr.  Gordon's  forthcoming  history 
will  not  allow  this  to  be  said  much  longer. 


432  Thomson's   notices 

author  himself  was;  only  wanting  the  capacity  which  he 
possessed,  by  gentleness  of  tone  or  kindness  of  manner,  to 
make  itself  agreeable.  He  deserves,  however,  all  reason- 
able credit  for  his  performance, — for  it  was  a  work  of  no 
small  labor  to  collect  the  materials  for  such  a  book.  He 
who  has  never  undertaken  so  arduous  a  task  knows  little 
of  the  persevering  patience  it  requires  to  get  together 
into  a  congregated  mass,  to  sort,  select,  and  arrange  those 
"  scattered  fragments  of  broken"  facts,  which  are  the  body 
and  the  essence  of  such  a  composition.  The  difficulty  of 
discovering  those  who  have  the  desired  information,  and 
the  still  more  insurmountable  difficulty  of  inducing  them 
to  communicate  it,  are  enough  to  discourage  any  man, 
unless  he  be  endowed  with  more  than  common  equa- 
nimity, from  making  so  wearisome  an  attempt.  In  this 
view,  Proud's  volumes  deserve  our  sincere  commendation. 
He  has  acted  in  the  arduous  character  of  a  pioneer, — 
he  has  gone  before,  and  gathered  up  the  segregated 
materials;  and  to  the  future  historian  he  will  at  least 
serve  as  a  landmark,  by  which  he  may  in  some  measure 
direct  his  course. 

I  have  said  that,  after  his  failure,  Robert  resumed  the 
duties  of  a  teacher.  This  was  his  element,  and  perhaps 
the  sphere  of  his  most  extensive  usefulness.  He  took 
great  delight  in  the  languages,  was  well  acquainted  with 
Latin  and  Gr^ek,  and  had  also  a  considerable  knowledge 
of  French  and  Hebrew.  With  the  Latin  he  was  so 
famiUar,  that  he  thought  he  could  understand  a  subject 
better  in  that  language  than  in  his  own.  Under  such 
competent  government,  the  school  necessarily  flourished, 


OF    ROBERT    PROUD,  433 

and  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  sending  forth  from  it  many, 
who  have  since  attained  a  high  standing  in  society,  and 
become  ornaments  to  the  circles  in  which  they  have 
moved.  His  manners  as  a  teacher  were  mild,  command- 
ing, and  affectionate.  I  once  heard  a  gentleman,  who  had 
been  his  pupil,  speak  with  much  satisfaction  of  Proud's 
conduct  towards  him  on  leaving  school.  He  entered  with 
perfect  freedom  into  famihar  conversation,  enquired  with 
the  most  paternal  anxiety  respecting  his  prospects  in  life, 
with  the  greatest  kindness  offered  him  some  appropriate 
advice,  and  parted  with  him  as  a  father  parts  with  a  son. 
It  produced  on  the  mind  of  this  individual,  though  he 
was  at  that  time  but  a  boy,  an  impression  of  the  deepest 
respect. 

The  venerable  tutor  relinquished  his  school  about  the 
year  1791,  and  employed  himself  in  preparing  his  History 
for  publication.  It  had  been  principally  written  for  some 
time,  but  the  circumstances  of  the  revolution  j)revented' 
its  appearance,  and  it  was  not  till  the  year  1797-8  that 
it  was  finally  ushered  into  the  world.  As  might  have 
been  anticipated,  it  was  unsuccessful ;  and  thus  not  only 
were  several  years  of  assiduous  labor  lost,  and  the  fond 
expectations  of  authorship  overthrown,  but  considerable 
pecuniary  expenditures,  necessarily  incurred,  remained 
without  the  hope  of  reimbursement.  Thus  disappointed 
in  his  literary  views,  he  resigned  the  pen,  as  an  author, 
and  sat  himself  down  in  otium  cum  dignitate.  Having 
now  survived  the  greater  part  of  his  most  intimate  friends, 
he  seldom  went  abroad,  as  he  had  formerly  been  accus- 
tomed occasionally  to  do,  for  the  purpose  of  visiting,  but 

28 


434  Thomson's  notices 

employed  most  of  lii.s  time  at  home  in  reading  and 
writing ;  sometimes  in  composition  of  his  own,  and  some- 
times in  translating  short  moral  sentences  from  various 
Latin  authors,  which  he  continued  to  do  without  the  aid 
of  glasses,  even  to  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years. 
Many  of  his  essays  were  poetical,  but,  of  the  number  he 
has  left,  few  rise  above  mediocrity.  He  appears  at  a 
certain  period  of  his  hfe,  a  little  prior  to  the  one  just 
noticed,  to  have  been  the  victim  of  frequent  fits  of  de- 
jection; and,  at  some  of  these  seasons,  he  gave  words 
to  his  distress  in  very  moving  numbers.  Those  of  later 
date,  however,  appear  more  calm  and  confiding,  and  his 
closing  days  were  passed  in  tranquillity  and  peace.  He 
continued  to  live  on  thus,  in  great  seclusion  and  miiformity, 
for  many  years,  until  a  naturally  strong  constitution, 
which  had  generally  insured  him  a  good  state  of  health, 
began  to  give  way  before  the  inevitable  attacks  of  age ; 
-when,  after  languishing  for  eleven  days,  on  the  evening 
of  the  seventh  of  July,  1813,  and  in  the  eighty-sixth  year 
of  his  age,  he  quietly  sank  into  the  rest  of  eternity,  "hke 
a  shock  of  corn  fully  ripe." 

Robert  Proud  was  in  person  tall,  his  nose  was  of  the 
Eoman  order,  and  "  overhung  with  most  impending  brows." 
I  remember  ha"STiig  seen  him  when  I  was  quite  a  small 
boy ;  his  appearance  was  striking,  and  could  not  readily 
be  altogether  forgotten.  I  have  not  been  able  to  recall 
the  expression  of  his  countenance ;  but  I  well  remember 
the  imposing  effect  which  the  curled,  gray  wig,  the  half- 
cocked,  patriarchal-looking  hat,  and  the  long,  ivory-headed 
cane,  had  on  my  boyish  imagmation.     I  beheve  Proud 


OF    ROBERT    PROUD.  435 

was  one  of  the  last  of  the  old  school  —  I  mean  those  who 
adhered  faithfully  to  the  dignified  dress  of  our  ancestors. 
One  by  one  they  have  dropped  away,  and  with  them  has 
departed  almost  every  trace  of  the  olden  time. 

The  character  of  this  venerable  relic  of  honest  worth 
may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words :  I  give  nearly  the 
language  of  one  who  knew  him  well.  He  was  a  zealous 
advocate  for  useful  learning,  a  man  of  regular  habits  and 
great  temperance,  and  in  his  manners  the  model  of  a 
gentleman. 

Requiescat  in  pace !  No  proud  mausoleum  lifts  its 
head  to  celebrate  his  praises ;  his  nameless  grave  owns  no 
memorial  but  the  green  sod  with  which  Nature  has 
adorned  it ;  but  many  an  one  is  yet  living,  who,  in  the 
grateful  recollection  of  his  worth  and  virtues,  can  sanctify 
the  memory  of  Domine  Proud.* 

*  Some  Poems  by  Eobert  Proud  may  be  found  in  the  Appendix, 
Note  TV. — Editor. 


ORIGINAL  LETTERS 


WILLIAM    PENN. 


(437) 


ORIGINAL  LETTERS,  ETC. 


The  following  three  letters  have  been  selected  from  several  which 
are  manifestly  in  the  handwriting  of  William  Penn,  and  were 
probably  the  rough  draughts  made  by  him,  and  subsequently 
copied.  They  were  found  among  the  papers  of  the  late  estimable 
Doctor  John  Syng  Dorsey,  who,  it  is  supposed,  derived  them  from 
his  grandfather,  Edmund  Physick,  formerly  an  officer  under  the 
Proprietary  government.  Mrs.  Dorsey  has  kindly  given  permission 
to  make  the  publication. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  observe  that  the  Earl  of  Rochester,  to 
whom  one  of  the  letters  is  addressed,  was  not  the  witty  and  profli- 
gate nobleman  who  once  possessed  that  title.  That  unhappy  young 
man,  worn  out  by  his  vices,  expired  in  1680. 

1.  To  THE  Lord  Keeper  North. 

My  Noble  Friend, 

It  hath  been  sometimes  a  question  with  me  whether 
writing  or  silence  would  be  more  excusable,  for  it  is  an 
unhappiness  incident  of  great  men  to  be  troubled  with 
the  prospects  of  those  their  power  and  goodness  oblige ; 
but  because  I  had  rather  want  excuse  for  this  freedom 
than  be  wanting  of  gratitude  to  my  benefactor,  I  deter- 

(439) 


440  ORIGINAL    LETTERS 

mined  to  render  my  most  humble  tlianks  for  the  many 
favors  I  received  at  the  Lord  North's  hand,  in  the  passing 
and  great  dispatch  of  my  patent.  I  thank  God  I  am 
safely  arrived,  and  twenty-two  sale  more ;  the  air  proveth 
sweet  and  good,  the  land  fertile,  and  springs  many  and 
pleasant.  We  are  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  from  the 
main  sea,  and  forty  miles  up  the  freshes.  The  town  platt 
is  a  mile  long  and  two  miles  deep ;  on  each  side  of  the 
town  runs  a  navigable  river,  the  least  as  broad  as  the 
Thames  at  Woolwych,  the  other  above  a  mile;  about 
eighty  houses  are  built,  and  I  suppose  above  three  hun- 
dred farms  settled  as  contiguously  as  may  be.  We  have 
had  since  last  summer  about  sixty  sail  of  great  and  smal 
shipping,  which  we  esteem  a  good  beginning :  a  fair  we 
have  had,  and  weekly  markett,  to  which  the  ancient  lowly 
inhabitants  come  to  sell  their  produce  to  their  profit  and 
our  accommodation.  I  have  also  bought  lands  of  the 
natives,  treated  them  largely,  and  settled  a  firm  and 
advantageous  correspondency  with  them ;  who  are  a  care- 
less, merry  people,  yet  in  property  strict  with  us,  though 
as  kind  as  among  themselves;  in  counsel  so 

deliberate,  in  speech  short,  grave,  and  eloquent,  young 
and  old  in  their  several  class,  that  I  have  never  seen  in 
Europe  anything  more  wise,  cautious,  and  dexterous ;  'tis 
as  admirable  to  me  as  it  may  look  incredible  on  that  side 
of  the  water.  The  weather  often  changeth  with  notice 
and  is  constant  almost  in  its  inconstancy.  Our  trees  are 
Baxafrax,  Cyprus,  cedar,  black  wahiut,  chestnut,  oak  black, 
white,  red,  Spanish  and  swamp  the  most  durable ;  divers 
wild  fruits,  as  plum,  peach,  and  grape,  the  sorts  divei's. 


OF    T7ILLIAM     PENN.  441 

Mineral  of  copper  and  iron  in  divers  places.  I  have  only 
to  add,  that  it  would  please  the  Lord  North  to  smile 
favorably  upon  us,  a  plantation  so  well  regulated  for  the 
benefit  of  the  crown,  and  so  improving  and  hopeful  by 
the  industry  of  the  people,  that  since  stewards  used  to 
follow  such  enterprises  in  ancient  times  at  least  encour- 
agement and  countenance  might  be  yielded  us,  whose 
aims  shall  in  everything  be  bounded  with  a  just  regard 
to  the  kmg's  service ;  and  we  think  we  may  reasonably 
hope,  that,  England  being  the  markett  both  of  our  wants 
and  industry  in  great  measure,  there  is  interest  as  well  as 
goodness  of  our  side.  I  have  pardon  to  ask  for  a  poor 
present  I  make  by  the  hands  of  the  bearer,  my  agent  and 
kinsman,  Capt.  Markham;  all  I  have  to  say  is  this,  'tis 
our  country  produce,  and  that  of  old  time  offerings  were 
valued  by  the  heart  that  made  them.  I  end  with  a  con- 
gratulation of  the  honor  the  king  hath  joyn'd  to  thy  great 
merit,  and  my  sincere  and  most  affectionate  wishes  for 
thy  prosperity ;  being  one  of  those  many  whom  thy  good- 
ness hath  obliged  to  own  and  approve,  as  really  I  am, 
Thy  very  sensible,  thankfuU  friend, 
and  servant  to  my  power, 

WM.  PENN. 

Philadelphia,  the  24th,  5th  mo.,  July,  1683. 

To  THE  Lord  Keeper  North. 


442  ORIGINAL    LETTERS 

2.  To  THE  Earl  of  Rochester. 

Philadelphia,  2d,  12  mo.,  Feby.,  1683. 

My  Noble  Friend, 

It  cannot  be  strainge  to  a  Lord  of  so  much  experience, 
that  in  nature  all  creatures  seek  succor  against  might ; 
the  young  from  their  old  and  the  feeble  from  the  strong, 
and  that  the  same  nature,  by  reciprocal  instinct,  inspires 
the  old  to  protect  their  young,  and  the  strong  the  weak 
of  their  own  kind.  This,  my  noble  Lord,  is  much  of  my 
case  and  this  trouble ;  and  to  whom  can  I  goe  Avith  more 
reason  and  hope  than  to  him  that  hath,  with  so  much 
honor  and  truth  and  a  perpetual  success,  been  the  kind 
and  constant  patron  of  my  just  cause  !  Lett  this  there- 
fore, noble  Lord,  meet  with  thy  usual  favor ;  which  will 
add  to  the  many  bonds  I  am  under,  as  affection  and  grati- 
tude to  thy  just  interest  and  service. 

My  last  to  the  Duke  brought  with  it  a  copy  of  a  demand 
made  by  the  Proprietor  of  Maryland,  with  my  answear 
to  it,  another  of  which  I  have  presumed  to  inclose,  and 
pray  that  somebody  may  be  commanded  to  read  it  at  thy 
riseing  or  undressing,  as  being  too  long  for  a  time  of 
business,  and  yet  the  matter  would  not  admit  of  more 
contraction.  I  dare  humbly  hope  that  the  king's  right, 
that  of  his  royall  highness,  and  what  their  grace  and 
favor  have  made  mine,  against  the  pretentions  of  that 
Lord,  will  appear  in  my  answear  with  a  more  than  ordi- 
nary force  and  evidence.  To  which  I  pray  leave  briefly 
to  add,  first,  that  the  land  in  question  was  never  de- 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  443 

manded  by  him  of  those  in  possession,  till  by  silence  and 
omission  forfitted ;  the  lower  parts  of  this  river  and  bay 
haveing  never  been  askt  for  of  the  Dutch  for  six  and 
twenty  years,  much  less  reduced ;  if  a  title  [?]  by  neglect 
in  an  improv'd  country,  here  more,  where  the  wildness 
of  the  soyle  rendereth  it  not  above  the  sixtieth  part  to 
that  which  is  labor'd  and  improved.  The  upper  part 
of  this  river,  from  Christina  Biver  to  the  falls,  w^as  never 
demanded  of  the  Swedes  nor  Dutch  neither,  since  they 
reduced  it ;  which  is  now  about  thirty  years  from  when 
the  crown  of  England  took  it  in  the  1664  as  I  take 
it;  and  has  been  since  held  jure  belli  ac  pacis.  This  is 
not  all ;  he  never  run  his  line,  these  fifty  years  that  he 
hath  had  his  graunt  —  a  default  never  to  be  plac'd  to  the 
accompt  of  the  possessor,  nor  yet  to  the  crown,  for  grant- 
ing it  to  another ;  non-improvement  and  neglect  of  fixing 
bounds  makeing  the  loss  just  on  his  side,  were  his  pre- 
tensions otherwise  right ;  for  as  there  is  no  transgression 
where  no  law  is,  so  where  there  are  no  bounds  sett,  nor 
possessor  found,  nor  any  claimant  appears,  there  cannot 
(with  submission)  be  any  title  against  the  planter.  Nay, 
it  is  the  practice  of  all  these  parts  of  America,  and  was 
the  express  condition  in  all  the  Duke's  patents  to  the  free 
men,  planters  of  his  colony,  they  settling  and  improving 
the  premises.  In  the  next  place,  what  he  seeks  never 
was,  as  well  as  it  is  not,  in  his  possession,  consequently 
never  cost  him  anything  to  improve,  nor  has  he  lost  any 
income  by  its  being  mine.  To  this  I  add  that  he  doth 
not  want  it ;  he  hath  two  hundred  miles  (for  two  degrees) 
upon  both  sides  of  the  bravest  bay  in  the  w^orld,  Chesear 


441  ORIGINAL    LETTERS 

pcack,  while  I  heave  but  one  side  of  an  inferior  one,  and 
none  at  all,  it  seems,  if  he  could  have  his  will,  to  the 
ruin  of  (perhaps)  the  most  prosperous  beginings  in 
America.  I  have  but  two  creeks  that  ships  of  two  hun- 
dred tun  can  enter  out  of  the  river  for  harborage ;  he  has 
fourty  (and  to  spare)  that  ships  of  five  hundred  tun  can 
enter  and  ride  in.  And  tho'  this  argument  ought  not  to 
prevaile  against  absolute  right,  yet,  in  a  case  circum- 
stanced as  this  of  mine  is,  I  hope  that  prudence  and  pro- 
portion, together  with  my  arguments  of  contrary  right, 
will  more  then  even  the  scale.  With  God  I  leave  it,  and 
my  noble  friends ;  but,  if  I  am  herein  disappointed,  it  will 
be  a  ruinous  voyage  to  me,  having  spent,  in  my  prepera- 
tions,  transport,  and  maintenance  of  the  quality  of 
Governor,  aye,  and  the  government  too,  with  the  append- 
ant charges,  a  vast  sum  more  then  ever  I  received ;  and  I 
hope  and  believe  the  King  and  Duke,  by  favor  of  my 
noble  friend,  will  never  suffer  me  to  fall  short  of  the  most 
important  part  of  the  grant  and  country,  and  which  that 
Lord  hath  no  right  to,  want  of,  nor  loss  by.  And  now, 
my  noble  friend,  give  me  leave  to  valine  myselfe  to  the 
Duke  by  so  acceptable  a  proxy  as  the  Lord  of  Rochester 
in  his  affairs  of  New  York;  he  must  indeed  remember 
the  humble  advice  I  gave  him,  when  in  his  closett  he  askt 
me  my  opinion  of  his  selling  of  New  York,  what  I  writt 
to  him  from  hence  in  that  affair,  and  the  zeal  and  respect 
I  have  shown  in  his  service  herein,  and  that  not  without 
success  (tho'  any  one  will  think  I  did  not  play  the  cuning 
man  in  it) ;  and  I  cannot  suffer  myself  to  believe  that  a 
prince  of  his  generous  and  steady  temper  will  permit  so 


OF    WILLIAM    PENN.  445 

fatal  a  stroake  to  come  upon  my  honest  interest,  nay,  his 
own  (and  that  of  no  small  moment  to  New  York,  for  it 
is  the  garrison's  grainery),  as  to  let  that  Lord  go  away 
with  the  only  river  and  bay  I  have  any  interest  in,  who, 
besides  that  he  has  no  right  to  them,  needs  them  not, 
never  had  them  and  so  looses  nothing  by  the  want  of 
them,  I  humbly  conceive  is  neither  more  able  nor  willing 
to  serve  the  Duke  there  or  here.  I  have  done ;  only 
please  to  remember  what  I  told  the  king  at  Windsor,  who 
gratiously  permitted  me  to  render  him  my  thanks  and 
take  my  leave  of  him,  to  witt,  that  if  ever  any  unhappy 
occasion  came  to  try  the  truth  of  the  assurance  I  gave 
the  king  of  the  quaker's  unfactious  and  peaceable  princi- 
ples towards  him  and  his  government,  my  life  and  estate 
on't  they  would  not  derogate  from  my  character ;  that  if 
I  could  lye  to  any  I  would  not  choose  to  do  it  to  him, 
whose  goodness  had  not  only  obliged  me,  but  also  putt 
me  more  within  his  power  to  be  even  with  me.  This,  it 
seems,  is  but  too  soon  confirmed  by  the  madness  and  folly 
of  some  evil  and  restless  men.  God  defend  these  king- 
doms from  blood  and  misery,  and  send  us  peace  in  our 
dayes;  which  I  humbly  wish  my  noble  friend  to  think 
upon  in  behalf  of  my  peaceable  friends,  lest  men,  even 
disinterested,  that  look  on,  should  say  with  too  much 
truth  that  in  England,  in  times  of  dainger,  there  is  no 
odds  in  being  innocent.  I  shall  add  no  more  but  my  best 
wishes,  and  that  I  am  with  much  zeal  and  affection,  my 
noble  friend,  thy  most  oblieged  and  faithful  friend, 

WM.  PENN. 


44G  ORIGINAL     LETTERS 

If  I  may  pray,  please  to  give  my  most  humble  duty  to 
the  King  and  Duke. 

For  the  Earle  of  Rochester. 

3.  To  the  Marquis  of  Halltfax. 

My  noble  Friend, 

It  is  an  unhappiness  small  folks  are  exposed  to,  that 
the  discharge  of  their  duty  is  an  increase  of  their  debt. 
I  am  one  of  those  who  am  oblieged  to  this  acknowledge- 
ment,   and   yet   the    freedom   of   making    it,   needs   an 
apology :  but  I  take  comfort  in  this,  that  I  have  to  do 
with  a  very  merciful  creditor,  one   that  is   as  easy  to 
forgive  as  ready  to  oblige;   which  is  all  the  defence  I 
shall  make  for  myself  in  the  liberty  I  take.     I  hope  my 
agent  hath  presented  thee  with  my  last  and  the  respects 
I  bear  so  honourable  a  friend.     I  did  in  that  give  some 
account  of  our  condition  here,  which  (thanks  be  to  God) 
mends  upon  us.     Our  capital  town  is  advanced  to  about 
150  very  tolerable  houses   for   wooden   ones ;   they  are 
chiefly  on  both  the  navigable  rivers  that  bound  the  ends 
or  sides  of  the  town.     The  farmers  have  got  their  winter 
corn  in  the  ground.     I  sujDpose  we  may  be  500  farmers 
strong.     I  settle  them  in  villages,  dividing  five  thousand 
acres   among   ten,   fifteen,  or   twenty  families,   as   their 
alDility  is  to  plant  it.     Germans,  Dutch,  and  French  are 
concern'd  in  our  prosperity  with  their  own ;  for  here  are 
come  three  parties  (one  of  each)  as  spyes  to  the  multi- 
tude, they  say,  behinde,  that  on  their  report  will  also 
embarque  -with  us.     The  Germans  are  fallen  upon  flax 
and  hemp,  the  French  on  vineyards.     Here  grow  wilde 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  447 

an  incredible  number  of  vines,  that  tho'  savage  and  so  not 
so  excellent,  beside  that  much  wood  and  shade  sower 
them,  they  yield  a  pleasant  grape,  and  I  have  drunk  a 
good  clarett,  though  small  and  greenish,  of  Capt.  Rappe's 
vintage  of  the  savage  ^rape.  The  only  interruption  I 
meet  with  is  from  the  unkindness  of  my  neighbour  pro- 
prietor, the  Lord  Baltimore,  who  not  only  refuseth  com- 
pliance to  the  king's  commands,  and  the  grant  he  and 
the  duke  have  gratiously  made  me,  but  as  impatient  of 
the  decision  of  our  joynt  soveraign,  would  anticipate  that 
by  indirect  waies  of  his  own,  who  to  say  true,  by  the 
course  of  his  affaires,  yields  him  as  little  regard  as  ever 
he  can ;  he  taketh  himself  to  be  a  prince,  that,  even  to 
his  fellow  subject  and  brother  proprietor,  can  of  right 
determine  differences  by  force,  and  we  have  been 
threatned  with  troops  of  horse  (which  are  fine  things  to 
the  wood)  to  reduce  those  parts  in  my  possession  to  his 
power  and  greatness,  aye  though  king  and  duke  had  them 
quietly  before,  and  so  were  pleased  to  deliver  them  to  me. 
And  till  I  had  preached  another  doctrine  to  him,  as  that 
the  king  was  lord  chief  justice  and  high  sheriff  of 
America,  that  he  finally  must  judge,  eject,  and  give  pos- 
session, he  refused  to  go  with  me  to  king  and  counsell : 
saying  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  king  and  counsell,  but 
would  take  his  right  where  he  could  get  it.  He  also  told 
me,  my  patent  had  a  proviso  and  exception  of  appeals, 
but  his  had  not.  I  told  him,  that  omission  was  not  a 
priviledge  but  a  prejudice  in  my  opinion ;  however, 
soveraignty  was  reserved  I  was  sure,  and,  if  the  king  was 
not  appealable  from  Maryland,  he  was  not  soveraign  of 


448  ORIGINAL     LETTERS 

Maryland,  but  the  lord  Baltimore.     Thi»  softend  [him  ?] 
a  little  to  his  duty,  and  now  he  pretends  to  referr,  as  do 
I,  with  an   intire   submission.      My  case   I  send  as  an 
answer  to  his  demand;  to  which  I  only  pray  leave  to 
add,  that  he  never  was  in  possession,  and  he  consequently 
looseth  nothing  by  the  want  of  it,  that   he   ever   had. 
Further,  he  never  claim'd  it,  not  of  the    Dutch  for  26 
years  after  his  graunt,  nor  of  the  Swedes  for  seven  and 
forty  years,  the  one  having  the  upper  part  of  the  river, 
the  other,  to  wit  the  Dutch,  the  lower  and  all  the  bay : 
which  in  an  improved  county  is  a  forfeiture  by  omission 
and  neglect ;  more  it  must  be  in  a  wild  place,  where  the 
land  is  not  the  sixtieth  part  to  the  labour.     To  this  I 
add,  he  never  run  his  line,  nor  fixt  his  bounds ;  and  with 
submission,  where  there  are  no  boundaries,  possessors,  nor 
claymant,  but  long   unqucstion'd  possession  on  another 
side,  there  can  be  no  title  pleadable  against  the  planter ; 
the  maxim  of  the  civil  law  holding  good  in  this  case, — 
Quae  nullius  sunt  in  bonis  dantur  occupanti.     But  this  is 
not  all;  he  needs  it  not;  I  do;  without  it  I  have  nothing, 
and  without  it,  he  hath  fourty  brave  harbours,  having 
200  miles  for  2  degrees  of  the  bravest  bay  in  the  world, 
Cheasapeak,    and   that,   on   both   sides,   replenisht  -wdth 
many  stately  rivers  and  coves  for  the  biggest  ships.     I 
have  two  that  ships  of  two  hundred  tons  perhaps  may 
enter  out  of  the  river;  in  the  bay,  none  but  for  small  craft; 
and  where  right  is,  to  be  sure  prudence  and  proportion 
will  more  than  even  the  scale.     I  must  (without  vanity  I 
can)  say,  I  have  lead  the  greatest  colony  into  America 
that  ever  any  man  did  upon  a  private  credit,  and  the 


OF    WILLIAM     PENN.  449 

most  prosperous  beginnings  that  ever  were  in  it,  are  to 
be  found  among  us ;  and,  if  this  lord  (who  may  remember 
that  his  country  was  cutt  out  of  Virginia,  to  the  great 
abatement  of  the  interest  of  that  province,  and  this  not 
for  debt  or  salaries  due,  but  as  meer  grace)  shall  carry 
away  this  poor  ewe  lamb  too,  my  voyage  will  be  a  ruin- 
ous one  to  me  and  my  partners,  which  God  defend.  And, 
my  honourable  friend,  I  shall  only  pray  that  my  case  may 
be  remember'd  and  recommended  to  the  king  by  my 
noble  friend,  the  marquis  of  HalHfax.  I  am  not  to  be 
blamed  for  this  liberty,  when  it  shall  be  consider'd  how 
great  a  place  his  witt,  honour,  and  abilities  have  with  the 
king,  and  how  much,  and  with  what  success,  he  hath 
acted  the  friend  to  my  poor  concerns.  I  hope  the  inno- 
cency  of  our  friends  at  this  juncture  hath  not  dishonoured 
the  lord  of  Hallifax  former  favours  to  them ;  as  I  take 
confidence  to  believe,  that  the  innocency  of  men  shall  pro- 
tect them  in  England  with  their  superiours  in  e\dll  times, 
else  the  odds  would  be  httle  in  being  such.  I  say  no 
more,  but  pray  God  to  reward  all  thy  favours  to  them 
and  me,  and  to  give  me  leave  to  value  myself  upon  the 
character  of 

My  Noble  Friend. 

Thy  very  afiect.  cordial 
friend  to  serve  thee, 

Philadelphia,  the  2th  of  the  12th  month,  1683. 

To  THE  Marquis  of  Hallifax. 


29 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 


OP 


SIR    WILLIAM    KEITH, 


ONE   OF 


THE   FORMER  GOYERNORS 


THE  PROVmCE   OF  PENIsTSYLVAJjOA. 


A   MEMBER  OF   THE   BIOGRAPHICAL   COMMITTEE. 


(461) 


A  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 


OF 


SIK    WILLIAM    KEITH. 


At  this  distance  of  time  little  information  can  be  had 
in  respect  to  a  man  who  died  upwards  of  seventy  years 
ago,  and  has  left  no  descendants  or  connexions  in  the 
country. 

While  he  lived,  he  was  an  active  and  imjportant  organ 
of  the  provincial  government,  and  may  be  conceived  to 
have  been  a  person  of  considerable  mental  powers. 

Where  he  was  found,  and  why  he  was  selected  by 
William  Penn  to  administer  the  executive  government,  is 
not  now  in  our  power  to  ascertain.  His  surname  would 
indicate  that  Scotland  was  the  place  of  his  birth  or  of 
his  extraction.  He  certainly  was  a  man  of  education, 
and,  perhaps,  from  some  circumstances,  we  might  be 
authorized  to  conjecture  that  he  was  of  the  profession  of 
the  law. 

In  1717  he  succeeded  Gookin,  who  had  not  been  very 
popular,  and  the  difference  of  his  manners  soon  rendered 

(453) 


454  A    BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH 

him  a  favorite  of  the  people.  His  first  address  to  the 
Assembly  was  calculated  to  win  their  affections  at  the 
expense  of  his  own  dignity. 

"We  cannot  at  this  time  thoroughly  comprehend  some 
parts  of  the  services  which  he  alleges  that  he  has  already 
rendered. 

Why  he  should  have  undertaken  to  present  to  the 
"  Prince  Regent"  the  address  of  the  Assembly  to  the  king, 
and  why  it  should  have  been  an  "  expensive  application," 
we  know  not. 

He  next  claims  a  credit  with  the  people  of  this  pro- 
vince, on  the  score  of  his  having  diligently,  and  at  a  con- 
siderable charge,  obtained  the  commission  of  governor. 
We  can  hardly  suppose  that  William  Penn  exposed  the 
office  to  sale. 

These  are  some  of  the  mysteries  which  frequently 
accompany  transactions  of  remote  times,  when  no  cotem- 
porary  pains  are  taken  to  prepare  evidence. 

On  the  death  of  William  Penn,  which  shortly  after- 
wards ensued.  Sir  William  Keith  appears  to  have  been 
inclined  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  elder  branch ; 
although  the  will  of  the  illustrious  proprietor  strongly 
indicated  that  he  considered  the  elder  branches  fully 
provided  for  by  the  Irish  estate  which  devolved  on  them, 
and  that  the  entire  interest  he  held  in  the  province  of 
Pennsylvania  should  appertain  to  his  children  by  Hannah 
Callowhill. 

William  Penn,  the  eldest  son  by  the  first  wife,  con- 
ceiving himself  entitled  to  the  government,  whoever  might 
be  proprietor  of  the  soil,  soon  sent  out  a  commission  to 


OF    SIR    WILLIAM    KEITH.  455 

Keith,  appointing  him  deputy  governor ;  which  the  latter 
accepted,  although  at  the  same  time  in  a  studied  and 
ambiguous  message  to  the  Assembly  he  intimated  some 
doubts  —  and  he  must  have  felt  dissatisfaction  at  the 
widow's  having  transmitted  the  copy  of  the  will  to  James 
Logan,  without  any  communication  to  him. 

In  the  mean  time  a  perfect  harmony  between  himself 
and  the  Assembly  continued ;  they  ajDproved  of  his  vigil- 
ance in  respect  to  some  Indians;  they  assented  to  his 
establishing  a  Court  of  Chancery,  in  which  he  presided ; 
and  the  only  dissatisfaction  that  his  public  conduct  for  a 
long  time  excited,  seems  to  have  been  his  preference  of 
the  dignity  of  this  court  to  the  conscientious  scruples  of 
the  Friends.  John  Kinsey,  a  lawyer  of  considerable 
eminence,  who  was  afterwards  Chief  Justice  of  the  pro- 
vince, refused,  from  religious  scruples,  to  uncover  his  head 
in  the  court,  and  an  officer  was  directed  to  take  off  his 
hat.  The  Quarterly  Meeting  presented  a  very  respectful 
address  to  the  governor  (which  may  be  seen  in  Pi'oucVs 
History),  and  an  order  of  court  was  thereon  made,  de- 
claring that  keeping  the  head  covered  should  not  be  con- 
strued into  a  contempt  of  court,  but  be  considered  as  an 
act  of  religious  Hberty.  Why  he,  who  had  before  that 
time  claimed  so  much  credit  for  the  pains  he  had  taken 
to  procure  the  sanction  of  parliament  to  the  admission  of 
an  affirmation  in  lieu  of  an  oath,  should  have  shown  his 
disregard  of  a  religious  peculiarity  to  which  the  Friends 
were  well  known  to  be  sincerely  attached,  it  is  difficult  to 
conceive.  It  must  for  a  time  have  diminished  that  popu- 
larity which  with  so  much  pains  he  had  already  acquired ; 


456  A     BIOGRAPUICAL     SKETCH 

and  he  could  not  plead  ignorance  of  their  pertinacious 
adherence  to  a  practice  for  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Society,  there  is  the  greatest  authority. 

I  notice  this  particular  as  indicating  the  character  of 
the  man,  without  intending  to  enter  into  the  history  of 
his  public  administration.  This  history  may  be  partly 
collected  from  the  plain  and  impartial  narrative  of  Proud, 
and  partly  from  the  panegyric  of  the  Hktorical  Review, 
printed  in  London,  in  1749,  and  by  many  attributed  to 
Dr.  Franklin.  Both  agree  that  when  his  commission  as 
Governor  was  suspended  by  the  appointment  of  Patrick 
Gordon  in  1726,  he  obtained  a  seat  in  the  House  of 
Assembly,  as  a  representative  from  Bucks  County,  and 
that  he  took  all  the  means  in  his  power  "  to  divide  the 
province,  embarrass  the  Governor,  and  distress  the  pro- 
prietaries." 

He  afterwards  went  to  England,  and  soon  afterwards 
addressed  to  the  king  a  representation  on  the  state  of  the 
colonies  in  North  America,  which  has  been  inserted  at 
length  in  BiirJcs  History  of  Virginia  (printed  at  Peters- 
burg, in  1805).  It  is  in  some  respects  a  very  valuable 
document,  as  it  embraces  an  account  of  the  produce,  com- 
merce, and  consumption  of  this  country  in  1728,  more 
distinct  and  perhaps  more  accurate  than  can  be  found 
elsewhere.  He  represents  that  the  colonies  then  took  off 
one-sixth  of  the  woollens  of  Great  Britain,  more  than 
double  that  value  of  their  linens  and  calicoes,  a  consider- 
able quantity  of  East  India  goods,  great  quantities  of 
English  silks,  &c.,  and  he  describes  their  naval  commerce 
as  very  great  and  constantly  increasing.     He   proposes 


OF     SIE     WILLIAM     KEITH.  457 

some  schemes  for  consolidating  the  Provincial  Govern- 
ments, and  enlarging  and  systematizing  the  power  of  the 
Crown;  one  of  which  is  (probably  with  a  "view  to  an 
appointment  in  his  own  favor),  that  judges  shall  be  sent 
out  from  England  with  a  jurisdiction  over  the  whole 
countrj^,  and  to  be  independent  of  the  Provincial  Legis- 
latures. 

This  advice,  although  well  calculated  to  increase  and 
prolong  the  royal  authority,  was  not  attended  to,  or 
perhaps  was  found  impracticable. 

Disappointed  in  this  quarter,  he  made  an  effort  to  sup- 
port himself  as  an  author;  and,  in  the  year  1738,  he 
published  a  history  of  the  colony  of  Virginia,  proposing  to 
proceed  with  histories  of  the  other  colonies ;  but  it  is  pro- 
bable that  this  work,  although  not  ill  written,  was  not 
very  successful,  for  he  proceeded  no  further  in  his  design. 
He  died,  it  is  said,  in  great  poverty,  in  London,  about 
1749.  His  widow.  Lady  Keith,  survived  him  several 
years.  She  lived  immured  in  a  small  wooden  house,  in 
Third  Street  between  Market  and  Arch  Streets,  with  an 
old  female  attendant  as  companion,  refusing  all  communi- 
cation with  society,  and  reduced  to  great  difficulties  for 
subsistence.  The  house  itself,  long  after  her  decease,  was 
rendered  memorable  by  one  of  those  melancholy  casu- 
ahties  which  sometimes  occur,  even  in  populous  cities 
where  help  is  most  at  hand.  In  the  year  1786,  it  was 
consumed  by  fire,  and  four  persons  perished  in  the 
flames. 

Sir  William  Keith  seems  to  have  been  a  selfish  and  an 
artful  man,  whose  true  character  was  perhaps  not  known 


458  A     BIOGRAnilC  AL     SKETCH,     ETC. 

to  William  Penn  at  the  time  of  his  being  appointed.  Ilia 
first  ostensible  attachment  was  to  the  popular  interest  in 
opposition  to  that  of  his  employer,  the  proprietary ;  and 
his  evident  object  was  to  enrich  himself,  not  to  contribute 
to  the  relief  of  the  family  at  home.  His  next  public  step 
was  to  promote  the  interest  of  the  elder  branch  instead 
of  the  younger.  In  this,  he  discovered  little  penetration  ; 
he  offended  those  who  he  might  easily  discover  had  the 
power  to  injure  him,  and  courted  the  favor  of  those  who 
had  no  permanent  benefits  to  bestow. 

The  remnant  of  his  life  was  embittered  by  the  con- 
sciousness of  disappointed  ambition  and  the  pressure  of 
hopeless  poverty.  He  saw  the  younger  branch,  which  he 
had  opposed,  rising  rapidly  in  wealth  and  consequence, 
and  the  province,  under  the  temperate  administration  of 
Gordon,  peaceable,  prosperous,  and  contented. 

In  the  work  I  have  last  mentioned  it  is  said  that  the 
"  ghosts  of  departed  governors"  were  to  be  frequently  seen 
wandering  about  the  vast  metropolis  of  the  British 
Empire ;  and  among  these,  perhaps,  that  of  Sir  Wilham 
Keith  was  not  the  least  querulous  and  unhappy. 


NOTES.  459 


SIR  WILLIAM  KEITH,  DR.  GR^ME,  AND  MRS.  FERGUSSON. 

Sir  William  Keith,  whose  grandfather  was  created  a  baronet  of 
Nova  Scotia  in  1663,  "  was  of  the  family  of  Powburn  in  the  north  of 
Scotland,"  and  came  to  America  in  May,  1*717,  with  his  wife  Ann, 
who,  at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  was  the  widow  of  Robert  Diggs. 
By  this  marriage  Sir  William  had  no  issue,  although  by  a  former  he 
had  certainly  two,  if  not  more,  children. 

Alexander  Henry  Keith,  who  is  described  in  a  deed  and  in  a 
mortgage  upon  record  as  his  "  eldest  surviving  son,"  and  of  "  New 
Castle  on  Delaware,"  appears  to  have  died  before  1749,  and  Robert, 
who  at  that  date  is  mentioned  as  his  only  son  and  the  inheritor  of  the 
title,  was  a  lieutenant-colonel  in'  the  Prussian  service.  In  1718  Sir 
William  purchased  what  was  afterwards,  when  it  became  the  pro- 
perty of  Dr.  Graeme,  known  as  "  Graeme  Park" — a  tract  of  1200  acres 
in  Horsham  Township,  and  formerly  in  Philadelphia,  but  now  in 
Montgomery  County,  about  eighteen  miles  northwest  of  the  city,  where 
he  erected  a  spacious  house.  The  following  description  will  convey 
an  idea  of  its  character:  "  The  ancient  house  is  still  standing  (185.5) 
in  good  preservation,  although  at  present  unoccupied,  and  is  built  of 
the  brown  sandstone  of  the  neighborhood.  On  measurement  I  found 
it  sixty  feet  in  front  and  twenty -five  in  depth.  Each  story  is  divided 
into  three  rooms ;  the  drawing-room,  which  occupies  the  north  end 
of  the  building,  is  twenty-one  feet  square  and  fourteen  feet  high.  Its 
walls  are  elegantly  wainscotted  to  the  ceiling,  and  the  fire-place  and 
mantel  are  composed  of  clouded  marble  brought  from  England.  In 
the  fire-place  of  the  second-story  room  on  the  south  end  is  an  iron 
plate  with  the  date  1728.  The  rooms  to  the  very  roof  are  all  hand- 
somely finished  with  mouldings  on  the  ceilings.  The  stairs  and 
banisters  are  extremely  substantial,  and  built  of  oak.  On  the  front 
w^all  of  the  house  the  remains  of  an  ivy  are  seen.  On  the  wall  of 
the  south  end  is  a  vigorous  young  trumpet  flower  (bignonia)  growing, 
said  to  be  a  shoot  of  one  which  grew  there  in  Mrs.  Fergusson's  time, 
and  to  the  writer  was  an  object  of  interest.  In  the  rear  is  a  fish 
pond,  supplied  by  a  spring  of  excellent  water  near  by.  The  house 
as  well  as  fish  pond  were  built  by  Governor  Keith  between  the  years 
1722  and  1728 ;  everything  else  about  the  premises  is  modern." 

Lossiug,  in  his  recent  biographical  work  entitled  "  Our  Country- 
men," says,  "  The  only  baronial  hall  yet  in  existence  in  the  United 
States  is  that  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  at  Johnstown,  a  few  miles 


4G0  NOTES. 

novlli  of  the  Mohawk  Kivcr."  Or.'Pmc  Park  is  perhaps  the  only 
exception  to  this  statement,  and  was  ])uilt  a  number  of  years  previous 
to  Johnson  Hall. 

Sir  William,  after  many  vicissitudes,  died  on  the  18th  of  November, 
1749,  in  the  Old  Bailey,  London  (Gentleman's  Magazine,  1749,  p. 
524),  and  Lady  Keith  July  31,  1740,  aged  sixty-five,  and  was  buried 
in  Christ  Church-yard,  Second  street. 

Dr.  Thomas  Gramie,  who  came  to  America  with  Keith,  "was  bom 
at  the  family  seat  at  Balgowan,  in  Perthshire,  Scotland,  October  20, 
1688,"  and  was  married  in  Christ  Church,  Philadelphia,  November 
12,  1719,  to  Ann  Diggs,  a  lady  of  considerable  mental  endowments 
and  great  worth  of  character,  who  was  the  only  child  of  Lady  Keith 
by  her  former  husband,  Robert  Diggs,  already  mentioned.* 

Dr.  Gra3me  was  a  person  "  of  excellent  education  and  agreeable 
manners,"  and,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Rush,  "  for  nearly  half  a  century 
maintained  the  front  rank  in  his  profession."  In  1726  he  was 
appointed  by  his  wife's  stepfather.  Governor  Keith,  a  member  of  the 
Council;  on  the  8th  of  April,  1731,  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  province,  a  position  which  he  retained  until  1750;  from  1751 
to  1753  he  was  physician  and  surgeon  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital, 
and,  besides  other  offices,  held  for  many  years  that  of  Collector  of 
the  Port  of  Philadelphia.  His  city  residence  was  on  the  north  side 
of  Chestnut,  below  Seventh  street,  on  the  site  afterwards  occupied 
by  the  Arcade,  then  a  very  rural  spot.  During  a  portion  of  the  year 
he  lived  at  the  "  Park,"  the  seat  of  elegant  hospitality,  and  to  which 
the  attractive  influence  of  his  accomplished  daughter  lent  an  additional 
charm,  and  it  was  here  that,  on  the  14th  of  September,  1772,  he  sud- 
denly died,  aged  eighty-four  years. 

Dr.  Graeme  had  eleven  children,  the  most  celebrated  of  whom  was 
Elizabeth,  born  February  3,  1739,  and  who,  April  21,  1772,  became 
the  wife  of  Henry  Hugh  Fergusson,  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  who 
was  related  to  the  celebrated  Adam  Fergusson.  The  Revolution 
separated  them,  and  it  was  Mrs.  Fergusson's  lot  to  spend  but  two 

*  Francis  Hopkinson,  while  on  a  visit  to  Grieme  Park,  in  1765,  composed  an 
elegy  to  the  memory  of  this  lady.     These  are  the  concluding  lines : 

"Oh!   may  I  strive  her  footsteps  to  pursue. 
And  keep  the  Christian's  glorious  prize  in  view; 
Like  her  defy  the  stormy  waves  of  life, 
And  with  heroic  zeal  maintain  the  strife; 
Like  her  find  comfort  in  the  arms  of  death, 
And  in  a  peaceful  calm  resign  my  breath." 


NOTES.  461 

and  a  half  years  of  her  married  life  with  her  husband.  The  literary 
abilities  of  Mrs.  Fergusson  were  considerable.  She  also  wrote  very 
graceful  poetry.  Possessing  an  excellent  mind,  cultivated  by  careful 
and  extensive  reading  and  study,  also  very  remarkable  powers  of 
conversation,  with  much  amiability  of  character,  Mrs.  Fergusson  was 
greatly  esteemed  and  her  society  much  sought. 

During  the  Revolutionary  war  she  evinced  friendship  for  her  coun- 
try, and  by  Washington  was  held  in  much  regard,  who  more  than 
once  was  hospitably  entertained  at  GriEme  Park. 

Mrs.  Fergusson  died  without  issue  23d  of  February,  1801,  aged 
sixty-two  years. 

Jane  Grasme,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Fergusson,  became  the  wife  of  Mr. 
James  Young,  and  had  three  children.  Ann,  the  eldest  child,  married 
William  Smith,  M.  D.,  a  graduate  in  1171  of  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  College  of  Philadelphia.  The  late  Samuel  F.  Smith,  for  some 
years  President  of  the  Philadelphia  Bank,  was  a  son  by  this  marriage, 
and  Mrs.  Ann  Young  Smith  inherited  the  literary  talent  of  the  family, 
and  also  wrote  verse  with  facility  and  grace.  The  following  lines  are 
from  her  pen. 

AN  ELEGY  TO  THE  MEMORY  OP  THE  AMERICAN  VOLUNTEERS  WHO 
TELL  IN  THE  ENGAGEMENT  AT  LEXINGTON  ON  THE  19tH  OF  APRIL, 
1115. 

Let  joy  be  dumb,  let  mirth's  gay  carol  cease, 
See  plaintive  sorrow  come  bedew'd  with  tears; 

With  mournful  steps  retires  the  cherub  peace, 
And  horrid  war  with  all  his  train  appears. 

He  comes,  and  crimson  slaughter  marks  his  way. 

Stern  famine  follows  in  his  vengeful  tread ; 
Before  him  pleasure,  hope,  and  love  decay, 

And  meek-eyed  mercy  hangs  the  drooping  head. 

Fled  like  a  dream  are  those  delightful  hours, 
When  here  with  innocence  and  peace  we  roved, 

Secure  and  happy  in  our  native  bowers, 

Blest  in  the  presence  of  the  youths  we  loved. 

The  blow  is  struck,  which  thro'  each  future  age 

Shall  call  from  pity's  eye  the  frequent  tear ; 
Which  gives  the  brother  to  the  brother's  rngc. 

And  dyes  with  British  blood  the  British  spear. 


4G2  NOTES. 

Whevo'cr  Mio  bnrirroiiH  story  nball  be  told, 

Tlie  BritiMh  chuck  hIkiU  glow  with  conscious  flame. 

This  deed  in  bloody  clnirficterH   cnroU'd, 
Shall  stain  the  lustre  of  their  forn)er  name. 

But  you,  ye  brave  defenders  of  our  cause, 
The  first  in  this  dire  contest  call'd  to  bleed, 

Your  names  hereafter  crown'd  with  fresh  applause 
Each  manly  breast  with  joy-mixt  woe  shall  read. 

Your  memories,  dear  to  every  free-born  mind, 
Shall  need  no  monument  your  fame  to  raise; 

Forever  in  our  grateful  hearts  enshrined. 
And  blest  by  your  united  country's  praise. 

But  oh !    permit  the  muse  with  grief  sincere 
The  widow's  heartfelt  anguish  to  bemoan, 

To  join  the  sister's  and  the  orphan's  tear, 

Whom  this  sad  day  from  all  they  loved  has  torn. 

Blest  be  this  humble  strain,  if  it  imparts 

The  dawn  of  peace  to  but  one  pensive  breast; 

If  it  can  hush  one  sigh  that  rends  your  hearts, 
Or  lull  your  sorrow  to  a  short  liv'd  rest. 

But  vain  the  hope,  too  well  the  bosom  knows 
IIow  faint  is  glory's  voice  to  nature's  calls ; 

How  weak  the  balm  the  laurel  wreath  bestows, 
To  heal  our  breast  when  love  or  friendship  falls. 

Yet  think  they  in  their  country's  cause  expired, 
While  guardian  angels  watch'd  their  parting  sighs, 

Their  dying  breasts  with  constancy  inspired. 
And  bade  them  welcome  to  their  native  skies. 

Our  future  state  is  wrapt  in  darkest  gloom. 

And  threat'ning  clouds,  from  which  their  souls  are  freed, 

Ere  the  big  tempest  bursts  they  press  the  tomb. 
Not  doom'd  to  see  their  much  loved  country  bleed. 

Oh!   let  such  thoughts  as  these  assuage  your  grief, 
And  stop  the  tear  of  sorrow  as  it  flows. 

Till  time's  all-powerful  hand  shall  yield  relief, 
And  shed  a  kind  oblivion  o'er  your  woes. 

But  oh !    thou  Being  infinitely  just. 

Whose  boundless  eye  with  mercy  looks  on  all, 

On  Thee  alone  thy  humble  people  trust. 
On  Thee  alone  for  their  deliverance  call. 


NOTES.  463 

Long  did  Thy  hand  unnumber'd  blessings  shower, 
And  crown  our  land  with  liberty  and  peace ; 

Extend,  0  Lord,  again  Thy  saving  power, 
And  bid  the  horrors  of  invasion  cease. 

But  if  Thy  awful  wisdom  has  decreed 

That  we  severer  evils  yet  shall  know, 
By  thy  Almighty  justice  doom'd  to  bleed. 

And  deeper  drink  the  bitter  draughts  of  woe. 

Oh,  grant  us.  Heaven,  that  constancy  of  mind. 

Which  over  adverse  fortune  rises  still. 
Unshaken  faith,  calm  fortitude,  resign'd, 

And  full  submission  to  Thy  holy  will. 

To  Thee,  eternal  parent,  we  resign 

Our  bleeding  cause,  and  in  Thy  wisdom  rest; 
With  grateful  hearts  we  bless  Thy  power  divine, 
And  own  resign'd,   "whatever  is,  is  best." 

Sylvia. 
Philadelphia,  May  2,  1775. 

The  particulars  of  this  sketch  are  derived  from  the  materials  kindly 
placed  at  our  disposal  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Lippincott,  which  were  gathered 
by  the  late  Mr.  Henry  C.  Wetmore  in  view  of  the  publication  of 
a  work  principally  relating  to  Grteme  Park,  and  those  associated 
with  its  history  and  with  that  of  the  Revolution.  The  appearance 
of  the  volume,  we  regret  to  say,  was  arrested  by  the  death  of  its 
lamented  author. 

Some  account  of  the  political  character  of  Keith  may  be  found  in 
a  "Narrative"  written  in  1126,  and  edited  by  Mr.  Joshua  Francis 
Fisher ;  in  which  the  conduct  of  Sir  William  during  his  government 
of  the  province  is  very  severely  dealt  with.  —  Memoirs  of  Historical 
Society,  vol.  ii.  part  2.  —  Editor. 


MEMBEES  OE  THE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 
NEWLY  ELECTED. 


CONTRIBUTING  MEMBERS. 

George  Fox,  Jacob  R.  Smith, 

Richard  Peun  Smith,*  Paul  Beck,  Jr.,* 

Richard  C.  Wood,*  Levett  Harris,* 

Dr.  George  B.  Wood,  James  C.  Fisher,* 

Turner  Camac,*  Thomas  Hughes. 


CORRESPONDING  MEMBERS. 

John  N.  Conjiigham,  Luzerne  County. 
Joseph  W.  Rowland,  Montgomery  County.^ 
Frederick  Smith,  Berhs  County f'^ 
Charles  B.  Penrose,  Cumberland  County.^ 
Isaac  A.  Chapman,  Luzerne  County.^ 
Thomas  Wistar,  Jr.,  Montgomery  Cou7ity.* 
George  Taylor,  PottsviUe,  Pa* 
James  Cox,  Buclcs  County.* 
Samuel  Wagner,  Yorh  County.* 
Wilham  H.  Dillingham,  Chester  County.* 
Alexander  Thompson,  Bedford  County.* 

30  (465) 


4GG  MEMBEIIS     OF     THE     SOCIETY,     ETC. 


HONORARY  MEMBERS. 

General  La  Fayette,  La  Grange  [France)* 
The  Marquis  de  Marbois,  Francej^ 
Chevalier  Botta,  Italy :^ 
Charles  Smith,  Baltimore.* 
Charles  Wilkes,  New  York* 
The  Rev.  Jedediah  Morse,  New  Haven.  [Conn.)* 
Daniel  Lyman,  Providence  {Rliode  Island).* 
Richard  Stockton,  Princeton  (New  Jersey)  .* 
Thomas  Horsfield,  M.D.,  Lyndon* 


APPENDIX. 


Note  I.     (Page  32.) 
LIST   OF   THE   PILGRIMS   OF   THE   "WELCOME." 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  there  is  no  record  of  the  names  of  those 
who  accompanied  Penn.  We  are  not  aware  even  of  afi  attempt  to 
collect  the  scattered  information  on  the  subject;  but  from  sources 
hitherto  unexplored  we  have  been  able  to  present  a  very  nearly  com- 
plete list  of  the  pilgrims  of  the  "Welcome,"  and  whose  names  should 
not  be  permitted  to  die.  Of  the  one  hundred  who  are  said  to  have 
sailed,  although  the  number  was  probably  greater,  our  catalogue 
embraces  ninety-seven,  and  since  the  "  families "  of  Ellen  Cowgill 
and  Cuthbert  Hayhurst  are  mentioned  as  having  embarked  with 
Penn,  we  think  we  are  justified  in  pronouncing  the  roll  almost 
perfect. 

The  principal  sources  of  proof  in  preparing  the  subjoined  list  were 
found  in  the  wills  of  Barber,  Heriott,  Ingram,  and  Wade,  in  the 
Register's  Ofl&ce  at  Philadelphia,  which  were  made  on  board  the 
"  Welcome,"  and  all  of  whom  probably  died  on  the  voyage ;  in  a 
"MS.  Registry  of  Arrivals,"  in  the  Recorder's  Office  at  Doylestown ; 
"  MS.  Registry  of  Arrivals,"  Archives  of  Historical  Society ;  *  and  in 
"  Comly's  History  of  Byberry,"  2d  vol.  of  Memoirs  of  the  Historical 
Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

John  Barber  (1)  and  Elizabeth  (2)  his  wife,  eldest  daughter  of 
John  Songhurst,  of  Shij)ley,  county  of  Sussex,  England  (See  his  will, 
made  on  board  "Welcome,"!  September  20,  1682,  Will  Book,  A.  p. 
10),  was  "  a  first  purchaser." 

*  Imperfect  and  extending  over  but  a  few  years. 

f  Robert  Greenaway,  the  master  of  the  "Welcome,"  died  14th  April,  1686. 
(Adm.  Eook,  A,  p.  27,  Philadelphia.) 

(4G7) 


4G8  APPENDIX. 

William  Brapford  (3)  (Sm  Dixon's  T.ifc  of  IN-iin,  p.  20^j,  of 
Leicester,  England,  the  earliest  printer  of  the  province.  Engaging 
zealously  in  the  Keithcan  controvers}^  "  he  took  the  side  of  the 
minority,  and  becoming  iini)<ii)uliir  on  that  account,  in  1693  removed 
to  New  York,  where,  on  IGth  October,  1725,  he  established  the 
'New  York  Gazette,'  the  first  newspaper  published  in  that  city,  and 
after  an  active  and  useful  life,  died  in  1752,  aged  eighty-nine."  (2 
Thomas'  Hist.  Printing,  pp.  7,  280,  and  Mr.  Wharton's  Notes  on  the 
Provincial  Literature  of  Pennsylvania.  Mem.  of  Hist.  Society.) 
[Since  the  compilation  of  this  list  some  doubt  has  been  expressed  as 
to  his  having  sailed  with  Penn.  We  are  induced  to  agree  \\'ith  Mr. 
Wallace  in  his  address,  already  noticed,  and  are  still  unchanged  in 
opinion,  from  the  facts  presented,  that  Bradford  came  with  Penn.] 

William  Buckman,  (4)  Mary,  (5)  his  wife,  and  children,  Sarah  (6) 
and  Mary,  (7)  of  the  parish  of  Billinghurst,  Sussex.  (Registry  of 
Arrivals.) 

John  Carver  (8)  and  Mary  (9)  his  wife,  of  Hertfordshire  (see 
Comly's  History  of  Byberry,  in  2d  vol.  of  Memoirs  of  Historical 
Society,  p.  181),  suffered  in  1681  in  the  persecution  of  the  Quakers  in 
England  (1  Besse,  p.  196)  ;  a  first  purchaser;  died  in  1714. 

Benjamin  Chambers  (10)  (mentioned  in  its  probate  as  having 
with  John  Songhurst  written  the  will  of  William  Wade),  of  Roches- 
ter, Kent  (see  "  Friends'  certificates  from  England,"  recorded  at  Phila- 
delphia*), was  sheriff,  in  1683,  of  the  city  and  county  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  his  name  frequently  appears  as  a  participant  in  public  affairs. 
(1  Col.  Records,  pp.  30,  57,  301,  &c.) 

Thomas  Croasdale,  (11)  and  "Agnes  (12)  his  wife,  and  six 
children,"  (13-18)  of  Yorkshire.  (Certificate,  dated  4  month,  June, 
1682,  of  Settle  Monthly  Meeting,  Yorkshire;  Comly's  Byberry,  2 
Memoirs  Historical  Society,  p.  182,  in  note.)  On  the  authority  of 
Mr.  Robert  Wain,  Mr.  Comly  states  that  those  whose  names  were 
embraced  in  that  certificate  came  in  the  "Welcome." 

Ellen  Cowgill  (19)  and  "family."  (Certificate  from  Settle 
Monthly  Meeting.) 

John  Fisher,  (20)  Margaret  (21)  his  wife,  and  son  John.  (22) 
(On  authority  of  papers  in  possession  of  Mr.  Thomas  Gilpin,  of 
Philadelphia.) 

Thomas  Fitzwater  (23)  and  sons,  Thomas  (24)  and  George,  (25) 
of  Hamworth,  Middlesex.     His  wife  Mary,  (26)  and  children,  Josiah 

*  We  are  indebted  for  a  copy  of  these  to  Mr.  James  S.  Lippincott. 


APPENDIX.  469 

(2T)  and  Marj,  (28)  died  on  the  passage.  (See  Registry  of  Arrivals.) 
Settled  in  county  of  Bucks,  and  was  a  member  of  Assembly  from  that 
county  in  1683 ;  active  in  public  life,  a  valuable  citizen,  and  eminent 
member  in  his  society.    Died  6th  October,  1699.    (1  Proud,  p.  422.) 

Thomas  Gillett.    (29)    (Witness  to  will  of  John  Barber.) 

Bartholomew  Green.    (30)    (Registry  of  Arrivals,  Hist.  Soc.) 

Nathaniel  Harrison.    (31)    (Idem.) 

Cuthbert  Hayhurst,  (32)  "his  wife  (33)  and  family."  (Certifi- 
cate from  Settle  Meeting.)  Suffered  in  1661  and  1668  on  account  of 
his  religious  principles.  (1  Besse,  5U  ;  2  do.  102.)  A  first  purchaser. 
Born  at  Easington,  in  Bolland,  Yorkshire ;  died  in  Bucks,  5th  March, 
1682-3,  aged  fifty.     (Collection  of  Memorials,  p.  1.) 

Thomas  Heriott,  (34)  of  Hurst-Pier-Point,  Sussex.  (See  Nun- 
cupative will  declared  on  board  "Welcome,"  19th  September,  1682, 
Book  A,  p.  4.)  Suffered  in  England  on  account  of  his  religious  prin- 
ciples.    (1  Besse,  121.)     A  first  purchaser. 

John  Hey.    (35)    (Registry  of  Arrivals.) 

Richard  Ingelo.  (36)  (Witness  to  the  will  of  Isaac  Ingram.)  Was 
clerk  of  Prov.  Council  in  1685.     (1  Col.  Rec.  81.) 

Isaac  Ingram,  (37)  of  Gatton,  Surry.  (See  will  made  26th  Sep- 
tember, 1682,  on  board  "Welcome,"  Book  A,  p.  11.)  Suffered  on 
account  of  his  religious  principles.     (1  Besse,  699.) 

Thomas  Jones.    (38)    (Registry  of  Arrivals,  Hist.  Soc.) 

Giles  Knight,  (39)  Mary  (40)  his  wife,  and  son  Joseph,  (41)  of 
Gloucestershire.  Settled  in  Bucks,  and  died  November,  1726,  in  his 
seventy-fourth  year,  and  his  wife  in  1Y32,  in  her  seventy-seventh 
year.     (Comly's  Byberry,  179.) 

William  Lushington.  (42)  (Witness  to  the  will  of  William 
Wade.) 

Jeane  Matthews.    (43)    (Registry  of  Arrivals,  Hist.  Soc.) 

Hannah  Mogdridge.    (44)    (Registry  of  Arrivals.) 

Joshua  Morris.    (45)    (Witness  to  will  of  Thomas  Heriott.) 

David  Ogden.  (46)  (Witness  to  will  of  Thomas  Heriott.)  Pro- 
bably from  London.     (See  Records  of  Friends'  certificates.) 

Evan  Oliver,  (47)  with  Jean  (48)  his  wife,  and  children,  David, 
(49)  Elizabeth,  (50)  John,  (51)  Hannah,  (52)  Mary,  (53)  Evan,  (54) 
and  Seaborn,  (55)  of  Radnorshire,  Wales.  The  last,  "  a  daughter 
born  at  sea,  October  24,  1682,  almost  within  sight  of  the  capes  of 
Delaware."     (MS.  Record  in  possession  of  Mr.  Merrit  Canby.) 

Pearson.    (56)     Stated  by  Clarkson,  vol.  i.  p.  259,  to  have 

accompanied  Penn,  and  that  name  of  Upland  was  changed  at  his 


470  APPENDIX. 

request  to  that  of  Chester,  from  which  city  he  caine.  We  have  not 
ascertained  his  first  name,  though  we  find  a  Thomas  Pearson  returned 
as  a  member  of  Assembly  from  county  of  New  Castle,  Ifith  October, 
1700.  (1  Col.  llec.  590.)  But  as  this  Thomas  was  probably  the 
same  who  had  nn  interest  in  West  Jersey,  and  who  was  from 
Bonwicke,  Yorkshire  (1  Proud,  143,  in  note),  it  was  more  likely 
"  Robert,"  of  Cheshire,  a  Friend,  and  mentioned  in  1  Besse,  105. 
An  Edward  Peirson  resided  at  Darby,  and  previously  to  1698  re- 
moved to  Bucks. 

Dennis  IIochford,  (51)  of  Emstorfey,  county  of  Wexford,  Ireland, 
and  wife  Mary,  (58)  daughter  of  John  Heriott,  of  Hurst-Pier-Point; 
daughters  Grace  (59)  and  Mary  (60)  died  at  sea.  (Registry  of  Arrivals, 
Hist.  Soe.) 

John  Rowland  (61)  and  Priscilla  (62)  his  wife,  of  Billinghurst, 
Sussex.     (Registry  of  Arrivals.)     A  first  purchaser. 

Thomas  Rowland,  (63)  also  of  Billinghurst,  Sussex.  (Registry 
of  Arrivals.)     A  first  purchaser;  died  November,  1108. 

John  Sharples,  (64)  of  Ratherton,  county  Chester,  Jane  (65)  hia 
wife,  and  children,  Phebe,  (66)  John,  (61)  James,  (68)  Caleb,  (69) 
Jane,  (10)  and  Joseph ;  (11)  Thomas  (12)  died  at  sea.  Papers  in  pos- 
session of  Mr.  Benjamin  Ferris,  of  Wilmington.  A  first  purchaser ; 
settled  near  Chester. 

William  Smith.    (13)    (Registry  of  Arrivals,  Hist.  Soc.) 

John  Songhurst  (14)  (see  probate  to  will  of  William  Wade),  from 
Chillington,  Sussex  (see  list  of  first  purchasers),  and  Whiting  says 
of  Coneyhurst,  Sussex,  but  more  likely  of  Hitchingfield,  Sussex,  and 
who  suffered  for  his  religious  views.  (1  Besse,  115,  119.)  A  warm 
friend  of  the  Proprietary ;  a  member  of  first  Assembly  held  at  Phila- 
delphia, and  of  subsequent  Assemblies.  (1  Votes,  1,  34,  46,)  A 
writer  in  defence  of  the  Quakers,  and  eminent  minister  in  his  Society. 
(Whiting's  Catalogue,  160.)     Died,  1688.     (1  Proud,  231.) 

John  Stackhouse  (15)  and  Margery  (16)  his  wife,  of  Yorkshire. 
(Certificate  of  Settle  Meeting.) 

George  Thompson.  {1^)  (Witness  to  wills  of  Heriott,  Barber, 
Ingram,  and  Wade.) 

Richard  Townsend,  (18)  wife  Anne,  (19)  and  son,  James,  (80) 
"  born  on  Welcome,"  in  Delaware  River.  (Abingdon  Records.)  "A 
person  of  an  approved  character."  (1  Proud,  228.)  Of  London. 
(List  of  first  purchasers.)  An  eminent  minister  in  his  Society,  and 
died  in  May,  1131.     (Collec.  Mem.  102.) 


APPENDIX.  471 

Hannah,  (81)  daughter  of  Richard  Townsend.  (Registry  of 
Arrivals,  Hist.  Soc.) 

William  Wade,  (82)  of  parish  of  Hankton,  Sussex.  (See  will 
made  20th  September,  1682,  on  "Welcome,"  A,  p.  13.) 

Thomas  Walmesly,  (83)  Elizabeth  (84)  his  wife,  and  sons,  Thomas 
(85)  and  Henry,  (86)  a  daughter,  (8t)  and  three  other  children,  (88-90) 
of  Yorkshire.  (Certificate  of  Settle  Meeting.)  Died,  November,  1652, 
aged  forty.     (Comly's  Byberry,  182. J 

Nicholas  Waln,  (91)  wife,  (92),  and  three  children,  (93-95)  of 
Yorkshire.  (Certificate  of  Settle  Meeting.)  A  member  from  Bucks 
of  first  Assembly  held  at  Philadelphia,  and  of  subsequent  Assemblies ; 
prominent  in  early  history  of  province ;  a  first  purchaser ;  died,  August, 
1744. 

Joseph  Woodroofe.    (96)    (Witness  to  will  of  John  Barber.) 

Thomas  Wrightsworth  (91)  "  and  wife,"  (98)  of  Yorkshire.  (Cer- 
tificate from  Settle  Meeting.) 

Thomas  Wynne,  (99)  "  Chirurgeon,"  of  Caerwys,  Flintshire,  North 
Wales.  (Witness  to  will  of  Thomas  Heriott.)  Speaker  of  the  first 
two  Assemblies  held  at  Philadelphia;  afterwards  a  member  in  168T 
and  1688.  A  magistrate  for  county  Sussex.  Wrote  several  tracts 
in  defence  of  his  Society  (Whiting's  Cat.  206),  and  was,  says  Proud 
(vol.  i.  p.  231),  "a  person  of  note  and  charactei'."  Chestnut  street, 
in  Philadelphia,  was  originally  named  after  him.  Died,  March, 
1691-2. 


Note  II.    (Page  165.) 
JAMES     DIJNLOP. 

James  Dunlop  was  born  at  Chambersburg,  in  this  State,  in  the 
year  1195,  and  was  the  son  of  Andrew  Dunlop,  a  prominent  member 
of  the  bar  of  that  place,  a  man  of  superior  talents,  and  who  had 
married  Sarah  Bella  Chambers,  the  daughter  of  James  Chambers. 

"About  the  year  1126  four  brothers  of  Scottish  descent,  residents 
of  the  county  of  Antrim,  Ireland,  allured  by  the  bright  prospects  of 
fortune  in  the  New  World,  forsook  the  comforts  of  a  pleasant  home 
and  the  familiar  scenery  of  the  picturesque  Lough  Neacjh,  and  wended 

their  way  to  the  distant  province  of  Pennsylvania."*    These  brothers 

• 

*  Chambersburg  in  the  colony  and  the  Revolution,  by  Lewis  H.  Garrard.  Pub- 
lished by  the  Historical  Society,  1856. 


472  APPENDIX. 

established  themselves  in  the  valley  of  the  Conocochcaguc,  and  Ben- 
jamin became  the  founder  of  Chambersburg.  James,  the  son  of 
Benjamin,  by  the  first  marriafrc  of  the  latter,  was  the  grandfather  of 
the  subject  of  our  notice,  and  a  colonel  at  the  battle  of  Brandywine. 

Mr.  Dunlop  entered'  Dickinson  College,  and  after  his  graduation, 
in  1812,  pursued  the  study  of  the  law  with  his  father,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  Chambersburg,  Judge  Grier,  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  to  whom  we  are  mainly  indebted 
for  our  facts,  was  his  roommate  and  classmate,  and  the  late  Rev. 
John  Knox,  D.  D.,  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  New  York  city, 
and  the  late  Calvin  Blythc  were  fellow  students.  Mr.  Dunlop  at 
college  is  represented  to  have  been  "  a  wit,  with  a  vein  of  satire,  yet 
always  amiable,  and  his  standing  as  a  scholar  was  on  a  level  with 
the  best." 

After  bis  admission  to  the  bar  he  practiced  with  success,  but  dis- 
contented with  the  slow  gains  of  a  country  practice,  was  induced  to 
favor  schemes  with  a  view  to  the  more  rapid  accumulation  of  wealth. 
Before  the  removal  by  Jackson  of  the  deposits  from  the  United  States 
Bank,  he  was  an  active  adherent  of  the  Democratic  party,  but  after 
that  event  he  joined  the  opposition.  Entering,  and  as  it  proved, 
rather  injudiciously,  into  the  manufacture  of  edge  tools,  at  a  meet- 
ing of  protective  tariff  manufacturers  in  New  York,  he  made  a 
speech,  in  which  he  styled  himself  a  blacksmith,  and  excited  much 
astonishment  that  one  of  that  calling  should  exhibit  so  much  know- 
ledge and  ability. 

Mr.  Dunlop  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  and  was  a  member  of 
that  body  at  the  time  he  prepared  his  paper  on  the  boundary  question. 
He  was  afterwards  twice  elected  to  the  lower  House.  In  1838  a 
member  of  the  Convention  to  reform  the  Constitution  of  the  State, 
he  distinguished  himself  for  the  learning  and  ability  displayed  in 
debate.  Removing  to  Pittsburg,  he  obtained  a  fair  practice,  and  was 
much  dreaded  by  the  junior  members  of  the  bar,  who  were  unfamiliar 
with  the  rules  of  pleading,  for  his  wit  and  astuteness,  but  yet  never 
ventured  to  unjustly  and  unnecessarily  wound.  In  1855  he  came  to 
Philadelphia  to  reside. 

Prom  an  obituary  in  a  Pittsburg  journal  of  April  26,  1856,  Mr. 
Dunlop  is  described  as  "  a  lawyer  who  had  but  few  superiors.  A 
close  student  and  an  able  thinker,  he  soon  raised  himself  to  the  first 
position  at  the  bar,  and  continued  to  hold  it  until  called  away  from 
the  more  active  duties  of  his  profession  by  other  pursuits.  He  was 
the  compiler  of  the  well-known  Digest  of  the  Laws  of  Pennsylvania 


APPENDIX.  473 

which  bears  his  name,  and  also  of  a  Digest  of  the  Laws  of  the  United 
States." 

When  on  a  visit  to  his  friend,  Mr.  Charles  F.  Mayer,  of  the  Balti- 
more bar,  Mr.  Dunlop  was  attacked  by  paralysis,  and  died  in  that 
city  on  the  9th  of  April,  1856. 

We  are  not  aware  that  any  specimen  of  Mr.  Dunlop's  peculiar 
humor  exists,  except  that  which  may  be  found  in  a  pamphlet  bearing 
the  curious  title  of  "  Forensic  Tour  in  the  United  States,  by  the  Hon. 
John  Philip  Refalo,  Sergeant  at  Law,  of  Grey's  Inn,  London.  In  a 
series  of  letters  to  his  friend  in  Liverpool."  The  series  is  one  letter 
of  sixteen  pages  —  where,  in  a  vein  of  humorous  exaggeration,  he 
attempts  to  hit  off  some  of  the  personal  peculiarities  of  the  members 
of  the  Supreme  Bench  of  that  day,  and  which  we  believe  have  entirely 
disappeared  in  the  more  modern  and  decorous  manners  of  their 
learned  successors.  He  particularly  "  lampoons  a  celebrated  and 
eccentric  opinion  of  the  late  Chief  Justice  Gibson." 

"  On  entering  the  court-house,  I  was  surprised  to  find  the  judges 
sitting  in  their  ordinary  dress,  and  consequently  wanting  in  that 
grave  taciturnity  which  is  thrown  around  an  English  bench  by  the 
judicial  costume.  I  soon  discovered  that  they  were,  upon  the  whole, 
an  odd  set  of  fish,  each  one  being  distinguished  by  some  peculiar 
singularity. 

"  One  of  them  was  couched  as  low  as  he  could  get  on  his  chair,  and 
had  his  legs  twisted  around  each  other  several  times  like  a  couple  of 
Demerara  grape  vines  or  the  strands  of  a  rope,  and  was  picking  his 
teeth  with  his  pen ;  another  had  thrown  his  feet  over  the  bench,  and 
was  leaning  back  and  gouging  the  kernels  out  of  what  they  call  shell- 
barks  ;  one  of  the  others  was  cutting  a  stick  and  whistling  Yankee 

"  But  what  struck  me  most  particularly  as  a  novelty  was  the 
manner  in  which  the  bench  or  raised  platform,  on  which  their  honors 
were  located,  was  arranged.  Each  judge  was  separated  from  his 
fellow  by  a  close  partition  of  two  inch  plank,  reaching  above  their 
heads,  and  extending  so  near  the  front  as  merely  to  leave  room  to 
pass.  Upon  inquiring  of  my  friend,  the  counsellor,  the  meaning  of 
this  strange  subdivision  like  the  stalls  of  a  stable,  he  informed  me  it 
was  done  in  pursuance  of  a  law  of  the  legislature.  He  said  that  it 
was  found  by  the  experience  of  late  years,  that  whilst  the  judges 
were  allowed  an  unrestricted  intercommunion  of  opinion,  they  in- 
dulged their  loquacity  to  such  a  degree  on  the  bench  that  little  or  no 


474  APPENDIX. 

business  could  ho  transaotod,  and  tliat,  instoad  of  listoninpf  to  tho 
arguments  of  counsel,  they  ponorally  discussed  the  cause  themselves. 
This  propensity  to  judicial  collociuium  had  grown  so  inveterate,  that 
whenever  a  cause  was  broached  the  court  found  themselves  unable 
to  preserve  their  taciturnity;  the  sight  of  a  l)rief  recalled  their  old 
vocations,  and  stimulated  their  tongues  somewhat  in  the  way  a  bottle 
operates  upon  the  fancies  of  a  drunkard,  or  a  pack  of  cards  upon  a 
gamester  who  had  sworn  off.  There  seeming  to  be  no  other  cure 
for  it,  the  bar  had  unanimously  petitioned  the  Legislature  to  restrain 
the  judges  from  the  discussion  of  causes  on  the  bench,  and  a  law  was 
accordingly  passed,  requiring  the  sheriffs  of  the  several  counties  to 
divide  the  bench  into  stalls,  separated  by  close  partitions  of  two  inch 
plank,  and  so  constructed  as  to  prevent  entirely  the  intimation  of 
opinion  to  each  other.  The  judges  kicked  very  much  at  the  law  at 
first,  and  refused  to  go  into  the  stalls,  alleging  that  it  was  an  uncon- 
stitutional interference  on  the  part  of  the  Legislature  with  the 
judiciary,  but  it  not  being  a  clear  case,  they  finally  submitted.  And 
to  be  up  with  the  bar  for  their  interference,  they  ordered  little  curtains 
to  be  hung  in  front  of  their  compartments,  and  if  they  find  a  lawyer 
talking  nonsense,  which  is  not  unusual,  or  wide  of  the  point,  or  out 
of  the  record,  they  draw  their  little  screens  before  them  and  retire 
from  the  debate.  For  they  had  laid  it  down,  after  solemn  argument 
amongst  themselves,  that  no  one  but  a  judge  had  a  right  to  travel  out 
of  the  record.  "Whenever  an  advocate,  therefore,  finds  all  the  curtains 
across  the  judicial  divisions,  and  the  countenances  of  their  honors 
consequently  withdrawn,  he  takes  it  for  granted  that  they  are  dead 
against  him,  or  that  he  is  sailing  away  from  his  cause,  and  that  he 
must  alter  his  course  or  proceed  without  an  audience.  The  judges, 
in  extenuation  of  this  seeming  want  of  decorum,  insist  that,  though 
the  advocate  may  have  a  right  to  argue  his  cause,  they  can  hear  as 
well  behind  their  curtains  as  if  they  were  drawn  aside,  and  that,  if 
they  are  bound  to  listen  to  the  speech,  there  is  no  constitutional  in- 
junction on  them  to  look  at  the  speaker.  The  counsellor,  however, 
further  added,  that  the  stall  regulation,  as  it  was  called,  had  not 
answered  the  purpose,  and  that  a  new  petition  was  in  circulation, 
praying  the  Legislature  to  remove  the  partitions  entirely,  it  having 
been  found,  by  experience,  that  the  evil  was  rather  aggravated  than 
lessened  b}'  the  experiment.  For  the  judges,  not  being  able  to  talk 
to  each  other,  made  up  for  the  restraint  by  taking  it  out  with  the 
bar ;  and  it  sometimes  happened  that  every  one  of  them  ■would  be 
asking  questions,  suggesting  doubts,  and  putting  cases  to  the  advo- 


A  P  P  E  ^^  D  I  X  .  475 

cate  at  once ;  and  the  poor  lawyer  arguing  the  cause  often  felt  like 
Dr.  Last  in  the  play,  subjected  to  more  perplexing  queries  than  he 
could  manage  to  answer. 

"  Shortly  after  we  had  entered  the  court  room,  the  judges  were 
handed  little  manuscripts,  which  the  Bay  counsellor  kindly  informed 
me  were  what  the  lawyers  call  paper  books ;  an  appellation  which, 
he  remarked,  not  seeming  to  understand  its  origin,  he  thought  curious 
enough,  seeing  that  all  books  are  made  of  paper. 

"  One  of  the  lawyers  had  just  risen  to  open  his  cause,  but  as  soon  as 
he  got  fairly  on  his  feet,  the  judges,  to  a  man,  instantly  abandoned 
their  paper  books,  and  began  to  pour  in  their  questions  on  him.  One 
of  them  asked  him  the  name  of  the  defendant,  another  the  name  of 
the  plaintiff,  a  third  the  cause  of  action,  a  fourth,  who  were  the  bail 
in  error,  and  a  fifth,  why  he  had  not  brought  trover  instead  of  re- 
plevin. When  the  lawyer  replied  to  the  first  query,  and  gave  the 
name  of  the  defendant,  the  judge  who  had  asked  for  the  name  of  the 
plaintiff,  thinking  that  the  answer  was  directed  to  him,  said  that  there 
must  be  some  mistake,  for  on  his  paper  book  the  name  given  him  was 
that  of  the  defendant.  The  lawyer,  however,  set  him  right  by  in- 
forming him  that  his  reply  was  directed  to  his  honor  in  the  adjoining 
stall.  When  he  began,  in  answer  to  the  judge  who  wished  to  know 
why  he  had  preferred  trover  to  replevin,  to  state  his  reasons  for 
adopting  the  former  action,  they  all  cried  out,  uno  flatu,  for  hip  to 
proceed  with  his  argument,  and  not  waste  the  time  of  the  court  with 
matters  de  hors  the  record.  The  lawyer  looked  flat,  begged  pardon, 
and  alleging  in  excuse,  that  he  had  been  asked  the  question  by  one 
of  their  honors,  began  to  state  the  first  point  of  his  argument.  But 
he  had  scarcely  got  fairly  under  way,  until  one  of  the  judges  told 
him  he  need  not  argue  that  point,  because  he  was  against  him;  and 
he  added,  that  there  was  no  use  in  any  one  trying  to  beat  him  out 
of  an  opinion  he  had  taken  up  of  his  own  accord ;  that  he  had  too 
good  an  opinion  of  his  own  judgment  to  change  his  views  upon  any 
subject  excepting  politics.  The  lawyer  begged  leave  very  respect- 
fully to  remind  his  honor,  that  perhaps  the  rest  of  the  bench  might 
take  a  different  view  of  the  matter.  Then,  sir,  replied  he,  there  will 
be  the  less  reason  for  urging  your  point,  because  they  will  in  that 
case  be  in  your  favor.  At  the  same  time,  another  judge,  inspired  by 
the  dilemma,  cried  out  quacunque  via  data,  he  was  wasting  his 
breath,  when  he  might  want  it  to  cool  his  mush.  The  lawyer  looked 
posed,  but  recovered  himself  pretty  well,  on  one  of  the  judges  burst- 
ing out  with  the  maxim,  nullum  medicamentum  est  idem  omnibus ; 


476  APPENDIX. 

that  the  law  was  always  changing,  as  any  one  might  soo  by  reading 
Sergeant  and  Rawle's  Reports;  that  they  could  not  be  always  de- 
ciding at  one  session  the  same  way  they  did  at  another,  and  con- 
cluded by  saying,  that  perhaps  the  counsel  might  as  well  go  on,  as 
they  could  listen  to  him  or  not,  just  as  they  pleased.  But  as  this 
proposition  did  not  seem  to  be  heartily  concurred  in  by  the  majority 
of  their  honors,  the  lawyer  forthwith  left  his  cause  altogether  to 
follow  up  the  suggestion  of  the  judge,  and  began  to  clear  away  the 
ground  by  arguing  that  they  ought  to  hear  him,  first,  because  those 
judges  who  seemed  so  decidedly  favorable  during  the  discussion  of 
the  cause  would  probably  give  their  opinions  against  him  when  they 
came  to  decide ;  and  he  cited  many  cases  from  the  Pennsylvania 
Reports  to  maintain  his  assertion,  and  moreover  appealed  to  several 
old  graj'Jieaded  shreds  of  the  garment  of  Lord  Coke  who  were  sitting 
at  the  counsel  table,  who  affirmed  that  it  was  the  uniform  practice. 
Secondly,  that  the  judge  who  was  now  against  him  might  also 
change  his  mind,  for  that  in  the  case  of  Whacum  v.  Whacum,  in  the 
220th  volume  of  the  notes  to  the  Digest  of  the  Statutes,  the  point 
had  been  decided  directly  the  reverse  of  his  first  impression.  The 
judge  to  this  insinuation  replied,  that  he  did  not  care  whether  it  had 
been  decided  one  way  or  the  other ;  that  he  was  what  he  called  one 
of  your  quator  pedibus  judges.  He  did  not  mean  to  have  it  under- 
stood thereby  that  he  was  as  obstinate  as  a  mule,  but  that  in  his 
view  of  the  doctrine  of  quator  pedibus,  a  case  could  only  be  said  to 
run  upon  all  fours  when  it  had  three  others  to  support  it,  and  that, 
consequent!)',  he  looked  upon  one  decision  in  favor  of  any  particular 
point  as  of  no  sort  of  consequence. 

"  The  lawyer,  however,  was  pertinaciously  proceeding  to  show  the 
similarity  of  the  cases,  and  that  the  court  had  in  the  one  just  cited 
expressed  themselves  directly  the  reverse  of  the  opinion  now  thrown 
out ;  but  one  of  the  judges  stopped  him  and  said,  that  though  tuta 
via  was  tutissima,  the  viaticum  was  not  always  explicit,  and  that  ex 
consequenti  they  sometimes  missed  their  way.  He  proceeded  to  say, 
that  if  they  did  wabble  about  a  little,  it  was  not  OAving  to  design ; 
that  it  was  impossible  to  be  always  deciding  ad  unguem ;  that  there 
■was  a  heap  of  law,  and  that  it  was  now  tangled  up  in  this  State, 
at  least,  pretty  much  like  a  mountain  colt's  tail  full  of  Spanish 
needles. 

"  The  lawyer  by  this  time  found  it  necessary  to  refer  to  his  brief 
to  find  out  whereabouts  he  was  exactly  in  his  argument.  And  by 
the  time  he  was  ready  to  proceed  again,  he  found  the  judges  were 


APPENDIX.  477 

all  engaged  in  a  manner  that  indicated  a  decided  hostility  to  a  patient 
attention  to  his  discourse ;  one  was  reading  a  new  novel ;  another 
was  writing  an  opinion  in  the  last  cause  which  had  been  argued ;  a 
third  leaned  back  on  his  chair  and  was  nodding  asleep ;  a  fourth  was 
by  turns  drawing  pictures  and  working  with  a  musical  seal ;  and  the 
fifth  called  to  the  crier  to  bring  him  some  hot  water  and  his  razors, 
and  he  would  shave  himself.  The  law3"er  by  this  time  was  foaming 
with  vexation  and  anger ;  he  said  this  kind  of  conduct  was  insuffer- 
able, and  asseverated  that  he'll  be  damned  if  he  would  not  speak  in 
spite  of  their  teeth,  and  swore  that  the  constitution  guaranteed  to 
his  client  the  right  to  be  heard  ;  that  he  would  insist  upon  his  privi- 
leges, and  that  his  client  should  not  be  bamboozled  at  any  such  rate. 
No  sort  of  regard  appeared  to  be  paid  to  this  tirade,  except  that  the 
judge  who  was  shaving  himself  laid  down  the  brush  with  Avhich  he 
had  just  lathered  his  face,  and  pulling  off  his  gold  spectacles,  told 
him  with  the  most  provoking  mildness  that  nobody  was  hindering 
him  from  speaking,  that  he  could  perceive.  The  judge  who  had 
quoted  the  quacunque  via  data  maxim  said,  that  if  the  counsel  had  a 
right  to  talk  just  as  he  pleased,  the  judges  had  the  concurrent  privi- 
lege^of  listening  to  just  as  much  of  it  as  they  liked.  The  judge  who 
was  diverting  himself  with  the  musical  seal  remarked  very  seriously, 
that  he  did  not  understand  such  language  to  the  court,  and  that  he 
would  like  to  know  if  the  gentleman  would  explain  himself,  and 
inform  the  bench  distinctly  to  which  constitution  he  alluded,  as  it 
made  a  deal  of  difference  with  him.  He  did  not  hold  himself 
bound,  he  said,  to  support  the  State  constitution  with  anything  but 
a  club.  He  proceeded  to  say  that  there  was  a  great  difference  in 
constitutions,  as  any  doctor  could  tell  you;  that  though  he  admitted 
that  every  judge  was  sworn  to  support  the  constitution  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, as  well  as  that  of  the  United  States,  he  thought  it  was  not 
intended  that  they  should  both  be  supported  in  the  same  manner; 
that  as  it  was  not  specified  in  what  way  the  support  was  to  be  ex- 
tended, every  judge,  of  course,  had  a  right  to  choose  his  own  course ; 
that,  for  his  part,  he  was  very  clear  that  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  was  to  be  upheld  by  a  judge  in  his  official  character, 
but  that  the  State  constitution  was  to  be  sustained  by  an  o/jcti 
rebellion,  and  a  declaration  of  war  against  the  statute.  He  said  he 
might  be  thought  singular  in  this  opinion,  but  he  did  not  care  if  all 
the  judges,  statesmen,  and  civilians  of  the  country  thought  differ- 
ently ;  he  was  determined  to  keep,  as  an  Irishman  might  say,  in  a 
gang  by  himself.     He  then  proceeded  to  say,  that  according  to  his 


478  APPENDIX. 

views  of  "  distributive  juiilicc,^^  as  a})i)lieable  to  this  particular,  when 
a  judge  met  with  an  Act  of  the  Legislature  infringing  upon  the  con- 
stitutional rights  of  the  citizen,  he  should  first  canfully  inquire  if  it 
infringed  the  provisions  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
if  it  did  so  clearly  as  to  admit  of  no  debate,  he  was  bound  to  pro- 
nounce against  the  law;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  enactment 
contravened  only  the  injunction  of  the  State  constitutions,  he  should 
delay  his  opinion  ;  not,  as  he  wished  distinctly  to  be  understood,  to 
abate  the  matter  altogether,  but  rather  to  put  in  a  sort  of  sine  die 
plea,  until  the  constitutionality  of  the  Act  could  be  settled  by  the 
sword.  He  compared  the  duty  of  a  judge,  in  such  a  case,  to  that  of 
the  court  under  the  English  law,  when  an  infant  is  sued  concerning 
lands  which  come  to  him  by  descent,  and  age  is  granted  on  parol 
demurrer,  and  judgment  is  given  quod  loquiter  remaneat  quosque  the 
infant  comes  of  age ;  that  in  case  he  were  confronted  by  a  question 
of  State  constitutionality,  he  would  grant  the  demurrer,  and  enter 
judgment  quod  loquiter  remaneat  quosque,  the  people  should  arrange 
themselves  into  two  parties,  one  to  be  called  the  statutory  party,  and 
the  other  the  anti-statutory  party ;  and  then  quosque  further  until 
the  two  parties  should  fight  it  out  and  settle  the  point  by  military 
conflict ;  that  as  soon  as  the  constitution  demurred,  and  the  plea  of 
sine  die  quosque  bellum  should  be  entered,  he  would  adjourn  the 
court  instanter,  and  excite  the  people  to  get  their  rifles  without  delay. 
This  conceit,  he  said,  was  one  of  his  own  concoction,  and  he  prided 
himself  no  little  on  its  originality.  He  thought  its  conception  dis- 
played a  reach  of  imagination  beyond  the  ordinary  range  of  thought, 
and,  if  generally  adopted,  would  preserve  a  smooth  and  steady  move- 
ment in  the  wheels  of  government.  One  of  the  judges  doubtingly 
inquired  with  whom  the  fight  was  to  be  waged,  when  he  had  his 
material  in  readiness.  He  replied,  that  he  would  have  every  man 
who  dared  to  question  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  statute  con- 
victed by  an  independent  com-t  martial,  and  shot  or  shaved  according 
to  the  bitterness  of  their  opinions.  He  was,  moreover,  of  opinion, 
that  the  judges  should  not  themselves  resist  the  law  directly  with 
"pike  and  gun,"  but  by  means  of  remedial  process;  that  each  judge 
should  immediately  on  the  entry  of  the  plea  of  sine  die  and  judgment 
loquiter  remaneat  quosque  bellum,  ut  supra,  and  the  adjournment  of 
the  court  consequent  thereon,  procure  their  saddlebags  full  of  writs 
of  habeas  corpus,  mandamus,  homine  replegiando,  de  securitate  pacis, 
ne  unjuste  vexus,  moderata.  misericordia,  &c.,  and  erect  batteries 
upon  suitable  positions,  and  by  keeping  up  a  heavy  fire  of  wadding 


APPENDIX.  479 

upon  the  enemy,  efifectually  co-operate  with  the  anti-statutory  bel- 
ligerents. But,  he  added,  he  sincerely  hoped  the  Legislature  would 
appoint  a  mode  of  settling  those  cuifing  contrarieties  by  a  trial  by 
combat  something  like  the  old  mode  of  decision  by  battle,  by  which 
the  judges  should  be  empowered  to  select  suitable  persons  to  be 
brought  into  the  field  before  the  justices  of  the  court  at  the  rising  of 
the  sun,  bare-headed  and  bare-legged  from  the  knees  downwards,  and 
bare  in  the  arms  to  the  elbows,  armed  with  batons  an  ell  long,  and 
four  cornered  targets,  and  take  an  oath  before  they  engage  that  they 
have  neither  ate,  nor  drunk,  nor  done  anything  else  by  which  the 
statute  may  be  exalted,  or  the  constitution  of  Pennsylvania  depressed, 
and  proceed  forthwith  to  discuss  the  question  with  their  weapons 
until  the  stars  should  appear.  He  thought  that  the  State  constitution 
should,  in  no  case,  be  permitted  to  counterplead  the  wager  of  battle ; 
and  that  that  of  the  United  States,  like  the  citizens  of  London,  should 
be  privileged  from  trial  by  combat,  and  entitled  to  have  its  rights 
decided  by  the  judges  in  court. 

"  But,  said  one  of  the  judges,  suppose  the  statutory  combatants  hold 
out  till  after  starlight,  or  mayhap  be  victorious,  what  is  to  be  done 
then,  brother?  He  said  it  would  be  time  enough  to  give  an  opinion 
on  so  important  a  point  when  the  case  occurred ;  that  he  had  no 
desire  to  volunteer  an  opinion  on  constitutional  questions  any  more 
than  other  judges ;  that  such  a  question,  as  Horace  expresses  it, 
"  habet  foenum  in  cornu,"  and  that  he  felt  in  such  cases  the  advice  to 
Tityrus  in  the  Bucolics. 

Tityre,  et  inter  agendum 


Occursare  capro,  cornu  fecit  ille,  caveto. 

"Another  member  of  the  bench  suggested  the  difficulty  of  procuring 
combatants  to  enter  the  lists  upon  a  dry  abstract  constitutional  ques- 
tion, but  his  doubts  were  relieved  by  some  one  intimating,  as  amicus 
curite,  the  facility  of  engaging  at  any  time  a  couple  of  members  of 
Congress  to  settle  the  dispute,  if  the  court  should  be  empowered  to 
change  the  weapons  to  rifles,  dirks,  muskets,  cutlasses,  boarding-pikes, 
.or  pistols,  as  might  best  suit  the  combatants'  corporeal  power  or 
deficiency,  and  the  acrimony  of  their  personal  grudge. 

"  The  lawyer,  who  began  to  think  he  was  making  but  poor  progress 
in  the  argument  of  his  cause  in  listening  to  an  official  discussion  so 
foreign  to  its  merits,  asserted  his  right  to  a  share  in  the  colloquy  by 
remarking,  that  he  did  not  presume  tantas  componere  lites,  but 
begged  leave  to  suggest  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  shortest  and  safest 


480  APPENDIX. 

way  to  support  the  constitution  would  bo  for  the  judges  to  settle  the 
question  themselves,  and  if  the  people  took  so  much  interest  in  the 
matter  as  to  got  at  loggerheads  amongst  themselves,  and  fall  to  kill- 
ing one  another,  like  the  anny  of  Orob  and  Zeeb,  in  the  book  of 
Judges,  it  is  probable  they  would  take  an  equal  interest  in  supporting 
the  decision ;  that  if  there  must  be  fighting  about  such  questions,  he 
thought  it  had  better  take  place  after  the  decision  had  been  made. 
He  inclined  to  the  opinion,  that  the  delivery  of  the  decree  of  the 
court  would  save  the  necessity' of  combat.  And  waxing  warmer,  like 
Corporal  Trim  in  his  oration  in  the  kitchen,  he  urged  that  he  had  too 
good  an  opinion  of  the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  to  suppose  they  would 
sanction  the  Legislature  in  transgressions  of  the  constitution,  or  that 
they  would  not  support  the  judiciary  in  resisting  their  vagaries;  that 
the  people  did  not  believe  the  Legislature  had  any  more  right  to 
infringe  the  constitution  than  a  Female  African  Dorcas  Society,  or 
any  other  of  the  most  diminutive  and  unassuming  bits  of  corporations 
in  the  country,  and  that  any  judge  who  should  in  a  proper  case 
declare  so  would  receive  their  decided  approbation.  He  thought  it 
would  be  a  sorry  day  for  any  legislative  body,  who,  after  outraging 
the  constitution  of  their  country  and  their  oaths,  should  sacrifice  a 
judge  for  the  generous  discharge  of  his  duty  in  protecting  the  citizen 
from  illegal  oppression.  For  his  part,  he  did  not  believe  there  ever 
would  be  congregated  a  legislative  body  so  regardless  of  the  rights 
of  the  people,  the  sanctity  of  the  constitution,  and  their  own  cha- 
racters, as  to  entertain  such  views,  much  less  to  practice  them.  Here 
one  of  the  court  remarked,  that  it  was  dangerous  ground  to  tread 
upon,  but  that  he  felt  no  diffidence  in  declaring,  that  if  an  Act  of 
Assembly  should  be  so  outrageous  as  to  alter  the  style  of  legal  pro- 
cess, and  forbid  "the  commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania"  at  the  head 
of  a  writ,  or  the  phrase,  "  against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  com- 
monwealth of  Pennsylvania"  at  the  tail  of  an  indictment,  he  would 
hold  the  Act  clearly  repugnant  to  the  12th  section  of  the  5th  article, 
and  ergo  void ;  but  if  it  merely  took  away  one  man's  possessions  and 
gave  them  to  another,  or  ordered  a  fellow  to  be  hung  under  the 
second  article  of  war,  without  judge  or  jury,  he  would  feel  somewhat. 
in  a  dubitante  predicament.  It  would  then,  he  thought,  rather  pre- 
sent one  of  your  "pike  and  gun"  cases,  and  justify  an  immediate 
declaration  of  war.  Declaration  of  war!  retorted  the  lawyer,  who 
now  finding  he  had  little  chance  of  arguing  his  cause,  and  feeling  the 
awkwardness  of  standing  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets  —  declaration 
of  war   against   whom,    sir?      "Why,    against   the   Legislature,    sir, 


APPENDIX.  481 

rejoined  the  judge.  But,  sir,  rebutted  the  advocate,  suppose  they 
have  adjourned  and  mingled  with  the  mass  of  the  people  from  whom 
they  have  been  but  for  a  few  months  selected,  or  suppose  several 
years  have  elapsed  since  the  law  has  been  enacted,  and  there  is  not 
a  single  member  who  voted  for  it  in  the  body  then  in  session — quoere 
de  hoc,  said  the  orator,  with  the  most  triumphant  assurance.  And, 
continued  he,  his  boldness  increasing  with  his  progress,  if  the  judiciary 
will  not  assume  some  responsibility  in  asserting  their  own  powers 
and  independence,  they  may  rest  assured  that  no  one  else  will. 

"  This  remark  produced  the  expression  of  the  most  decided  disap- 
probation from  the  bench,  and  they  all  again,  uno  flatu,  ordered  him 
to  progress  in  the  argument  of  the  cause,  and  that  they  could  not 
waste  the  time  due  to  the  public  in  these  excursive  fancies.  The 
advocate  having  no  desire,  as  the  Bay  lawyer  expressed  it,  to  'quarrel 
with  his  bread  and  butter,'  began  to  hunt  his  brief  for  the  place 
where  his  argument  had  been  broken  off,  but  not  finding  it  with 
facility,  and  the  time  of  dinner  approaching,  the  judges  ordered  the 
crier  to  adjourn  the  court  till  three  o'clock.  One  of  the  gentlemen 
asked  the  counsellor,  as  he  was  going  out,  if  he  intended  to  resume 
the  argument  of  his  cause  in  the  afternoon ;  he  replied  he  did  not 
know,  but  he  intended  to  try." 


Note  III.     (Page  367.) 
EDWARD     BETTLE. 

We  are  under  obligations  for  the  following  notice  of  Edward  Bettle 
to  one  who  knew  and  loved  him  well. 

"Edward  Bettle  was  born  in  1803,  and  was  the  eldest  son  of  the 
late  Samuel  Bettle,  merchant  of  this  city.  His  father  was  an  eminent 
minister  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  of  which  Society  Edward  was  a 
pious  and  consistent  member.  His  mother  was  remarkable  for  her 
piety  and  excellence  of  character,  and  to  the  careful  training  received 
at  their  hands  is  doubtless  mainh'  due  the  fixed  and  virtuous  principles 
of  their  son.  , 

"  His  early  education  was  principally  received  in  the  classical  and 

mathematical  schools  established  under  the  charter  of  William  Penn, 

and  here  were  laid  the  foundation  of  those  attainments  for  which  he 

was  so  remarkable.     The  ease  with  which  he  acquired  knowledge 

81 


482  APPENDIX. 

was  surprising,  for  (lu!  accjuisition  was  a  matter  of  no  labor.  Latin 
was  with  him  a  spoken  language,  and  he  belonged  to  a  Society  for 
conversation  in  that  language,  and  where  a  fine  was  imposed  for 
every  word  spoken  other  than  in  that  tongue.  lie  was  a  llebrew 
as  well  as  Greek  scholar,  and  his  reading  of  the  New  Testament, 
which  was  devout  and  frequent,  was  almost  confined  to  the  original. 
In  the  acquirement  of  modern  languages  he  had  great  aptness.  Well 
versed  in  chemistry,  in  the  sciences,  and  in  general  literature,  his 
conversation  was  most  instructive  from  the  scope,  variety,  and  depth 
of  his  attainments.  He  was  a  deep  student  of  political  economy,  and 
so  profound  and  practical  were  his  views  that  the  late  John  Quincy 
Adams  requested  several  conferences  with  him  on  the  subject  of 
political  economy  and  the  tariff,  to  which  Mr.  Bettle  had  given 
laborious  study. 

"  In  the  family  and  social  circle,  however,  his  mind  and  heart  found 
their  fullest  development.  Guileless  and  open-hearted,  it  was  there 
that  in  the  relations  of  son,  brother,  husband,  friend,  and  citizen,  he 
displayed  in  due  proportions  that  highest  character,  the  Christian 
gentleman.  Whilst  bold  and  candid  in  asserting  his  own  views,  such 
was  the  suavity  and  kindness  of  his  manner  and  of  his  heart  that  he 
even  won  upon  his  opponents  in  argument,  and  if  not  convinced  they 
were  not  displeased.  Without  the  slightest  pedantry,  affectation,  or 
self-esteem,  he  conversed  with  great  ability,  yet  with  an  ease  and 
naturalness  that  exhibited  a  delightful  unconsciousness  of  his  own 
gifts  and  powers,  and  spoke  right  out  the  result  of  his  convictions, 
but  with  real  tenderness  for  the  feelings  of  others.  Such  were  his 
powers  of  adaptation  and  sympathy,  such  the  variety  and  exactness 
of  his  knowledge,  that  those  with  whom  he  conversed  deemed  him  a 
special  proficient  in  their  own  particular  study  or  pursuit. 

"  The  readiness  with  which  he  imbibed  knowledge,  the  love  of 
truth  for  its  own  sake,  have  been  spoken  of,  and  his  easy  and  uncon- 
scious manner  of  imparting  it  reminds  one  of  some  lines  used  in 
describing  the  character  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  J.  Addison  Alexander, 
of  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

'  His  was  a  mind  rich  fraught  with  classic  lore, 
Not  heap'd  up  idly  like  a  miser's  store, 
But  with  an  elegant  profusion  spent, 
To  make  whatever  he  utter'd  excellent; 
His  learning  govern'd  by  the  gentlest  laws, 
You  felt  the  effect,  but  could  not  trace  the  cause; 
As  some  fair  stream  its  course  in  silence  takes, 
Hid  by  the  verdure  that  itself  creates.' 


APPENDIX.  483 

"  He  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  concerns  of  his  own  religious 
Society,  in  the  welfare  of  the  aborigines,  in  the  slave,  in  the  cause 
of  education,  having  been  one  of  the  original  promoters  of  Haverford 
College ;  various  benevolent  organizations  also  claimed  his  attention, 
and  he  was  at  one  time  Secretary  of  the  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb. 

"He  was  married  on  the  1st  of  December,  1825,  to  Ann  Eliza 
Edwards  —  daughter  of  Grifl&th  Edwards,  for  many  years  a  merchant 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia — 'who  was  a  woman  of  rare  mental 
endowments  and  accomplishments.  Her  piety,  tenderness,  grace,  and 
thorough  congeniality  of  tastes  and  dispositions  beautified  and  adorned 
their  short-lived  marriage  connection.  Early  in  May,  1827,  soon  after 
the  birth  of  their  first  and  only  child,  a  son,  he  was  called  to  follow 
his  wife  to  the  grave.' 

"  Towards  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  his  devotion  to  religion  increased, 
his  mind  seemed  impressed  with  the  conviction  of  impending  change, 
and  he  unceasingly  engaged  in  the  work  of  preparation,  so  that  his 
last  sickness  found  him  little  to  do.  Once  during  the  course  of  it  he 
was  permitted  to  experience  a  deep  trial  of  his  faith.  'What,'  said 
he,  '  if  I,  who  have  always  loved  the  society  of  good  men,  should 
come  short  and  be  suffered  to  spend  an  eternity  with  evil  spirits.' 
But  this  cloud  passed  over,  and  he  was  able  to  exclaim,  in  the 
triumphing  love  of  Jesus:  'Xot  for  works  of  righteousness  that  we 
have  done,  but  according  to  His  mercy  He  saveth  us.'  He  died  the 
10th  day  of  10th  month,  1832." 

The  following  letter  from  the  Rev.  Charles  W.  Thomson,  an  early 
and  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Bettle,  was  written  in  kind  compliance 
with  a  request  to  communicate  the  writer's  recollections  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch. 

"York,  Pa.,  June  3,  1864. 
"My  Dear  Sir: 

"  I  returned  only  yesterday  from  my  visit  to  Pittsburg,  where  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  j'-our  second  communication.  I  am 
afraid  your  expectations  are  raised  beyond  any  ability  I  possess  to 
gratify  them,  in  regard  to  my  friend,  Edward  Bettle.  I  wish  I  could 
give  you  interesting  material  towards  a  biographical  sketch ;  but  as 
I  remarked  to  you  in  a  former  letter,  Mr.  Bettle's  course  was  so 
unpretending  and  so  generally  devoid  of  prominent  incident,  that 
there  seems  to  be  little  in  connection  with  it  that  would  attract  the 
public  attention. 


484  Arri-NDix. 

'Along  the  cool,  sormcslcrM  vale  of  life, 
He  kept  tbe  noiseless  tenor  of  bis  way,' 

"Comrauning  frankly  with  his  intimate  friends,  beloved  by  his 
family  and  those  among  whom  he  quietly  moved,  but  partieipating 
little  with  the  great  outside  world,  either  in  its  rapid  pleasures  or  its 
distracting  cares.  His  circle  was  the  charmed  one  of  home  and 
friends,  and  with  them  was  his  great  delight.  I  have  now  lying 
before  me  on  my  study  table,  and  an  object  of  almost  daily  reference, 
a  quarto  copy  of  Crudcn's  Concordance,  in  which  his  name  is  in- 
scribed by  his  own  hand  conjointly  with  my  own.  It  was  a  gift  from 
him  in  our  earlier  days,  long  before  I  expected  to  enter  my  present 
profession,  in  which  I  find  it  invaluable.  Reminded  by  this  and 
other  recollections,  I  have  him  vividly  before  my  mind  in  his  personal 
appearance,  his  manners,  and  his  general  deportment,  but  still  I 
cannot  recall  any  incidents  of  note  in  our  intercourse  or  in  his  history, 
as  far  as  my  knowledge  extended  (and  our  friendship  was  quite  an 
intimate  one),  which  seem  to  claim  place  in  tbe  pages  of  a  biography. 
I  am  not  aware  that  I  have  any  memoranda  to  which  I  can  refer  for 
the  date  of  Mr.  Bettle's  birth,  but  I  think  he  was  my  junior  by  a 
very  few  years.  He  received  a  liberal  education,  though  he  did  not 
pass  through  a  collegiate  course,  and  from  a  fondness  for  books  he 
acquired  decidedly  literary  habits  and  predilections.  He  formed  a 
youthful  attachment  to  a  young  lady  of  congenial  pursuits  and  dis- 
positions (whom  you  Avill  find  alluded  to  in  the  letters  sent  herewith), 
which  after  several  years  was  consummated  in  marriage,  and  proved 
a  very  happy  connection.  But  although  blessed  with  abundant 
means  for  rendering  life  prosperous  and  comfortable,  it  was  not  long 
continued ;  his  wife  died  in  a  very  few  years,  and  he  soon  followed, 
leaving  only  one  child,  a  son. 

"My  most  prominent  recollections  of  Edward  Bettle  are  in  con- 
nection with  a  little  coterie  of  choice  spirits,  who  were  accustomed  to 
meet  almost  nightly  at  the  residence  of  a  lady,  a  mutual  friend, 
whose  literary  propensities  and  sprightly  mind  constituted  our  great 
attraction.  There  we  discussed  various  matters,  literary  and  social, 
with  all  the  decorous  freedom  that  belonged  to  a  refined  and  well- 
understood  friendship,  and  our  talk  was  frequently  interspersed  and 
seasoned  with  sallies  of  wit  and  humor,  which,  amidst  our  more 
sober  examinations  of  books,  characters,  and  principles,  served  to 
enliven  and  give  variety  to  these  occasions,  so  that,  passing  '  from 
grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to  severe,'  we  found  pleasure,  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  sometimes  profit,  from  these  conversations.     My  friend 


APPENDIX.  485 

Edward  seemed  to  enjoy  these  gatherings  with  considerable  zest, 
although,  from  certain  causes,  he  was  not  as  often  present  as  some 
others  of  the  set.  While  he  entered  with  spirit  into  the  more  sober 
discussions,  he  also  found  pleasure  in  the  more  lively  parts  of  the 
conversation ;  for  although  the  bent  of  his  character  was  serious,  and 
he  loved  to  entertain  the  more  important  questions  of  duty  and 
obligation,  he  had  at  the  same  time  a  ready  perception  of  the  ludi- 
crous, and  took  evident  delight  at  proper  times  in  a  little  harmless 
pleasantry.  His  feelings  and  desires  were  those  of  a  Christian,  and 
he  owned  the  cheerful  spirit  which  a  Christian  ought  to  possess.  I 
can  well  remember  the  quiet  hilarity  with  which  his  face  would  beam 
when  any  bright  thought  touched  his  fancy,  or  any  good  saying 
chimed  in  with  his  sense  of  the  ridiculous  or  the  amusing.  At  such 
times  his  countenance  had  a  peculiar  expression,  indicative  of  high 
intellectual  gratification.  His  marriagb  took  him  away  very  much 
from  the  meetings  of  our  little  circle,  but  I  still  frequently  encoun- 
tered him  in  his  own  home  and  elsewhere,  and  always  found  him 
the  same  kind,  pleasant,  and  interesting  friend. 

"  Mr.  Bettle's  talents  were  of  a  high  order ;  he  inherited  consider- 
able intellectual  capabilities  from  both  his  parents,  and  during  his 
short  but  useful  life  did  much  credit  to  himself  and  his  generation, 
although  it  pleased  Providence  to  take  him  away  early,  and  thus  to 
foreclose  his  abundant  promise  of  future  usefulness  in  the  world.  I 
look  back  upon  the  days  long  past,  and  remember  him  as  one  of  the 
friends  of  my  youth,  gone  before  me  to  the  'better  land.'  He  has 
left  behind  him  a  character  of  high  integrity,  great  simplicity,  and 
straightforwardness  of  purpose.  His  memory  will  long  be  kept 
green  in  the  hearts  of  those  that  loved  him,  and  in  the  society  where 
he  was  best  known  and  estimated,  we  may  say  of  him  in  the  true 
words  of  the  sacred  bard : 

'  The  sweet  remembrance  of  the  just 
Shall  flourish  when  he  sleeps  in  dust.' 

Or  we  may  apply  to  his  case  that  other  expressive  language  of  an 
apocryphal  writer :  '  Though  the  righteous  be  prevented  with  death, 
yet  shall  he  be  in  rest,  for  honorable  age  is  not  that  which  standeth 
in  length  of  time,  nor  that  is  measured  by  number  of  years ;  but 
wisdom  is  the  gray  hair  unto  man,  and  an  unspotted  life  is  old  age.' 

"  I  have  thrown  these  few  remarks  together  in  great  haste,  both 
on  your  account  and  my  own.  as  I  have' little  time  to  bestow  on  it, 
and  your  press  is  in  a  hurry,     I  hope  they  may  afford  you  some  little 


48G  APPENDIX. 

help  in  weaving  out  the  web  of  your  narrative.  I  wisli  T  could  have 
given  you  more  incident.  If  I  had  had  more  time  and  leisure,  per- 
haps I  mij^ht  have  acfoniplifihed  a  little  more,  but  this  seems  to  be 
the  best  I  could  do  under  the  circumstances. 

"Hastily,  but  very  truly  yours, 

"C.  W.  TnoM80N. 
"  Edward  Armstrong,  Esq." 

Mr.  Thomas  Evans  thus  writes  to  the  Editor  in  reply  to  a  request: 
"My  deceased  friend,  Edward  Bettle,  was  a  man  of  remarkably 
strong,  clear  mind,  well  cultivated,  both  by  literary  and  scientific 
studies,  of  sound  discriminating  judgment,  and  of  high  moral  and 
religious  principles.  He  was  successfully  pursuing  a  career  of  use- 
fulness and  benevolence,  each  year  developing  more  fully  the  ample 
resources  of  his  rich  and  well  stored  mind,  and  his  remarkable  facility 
for  employing  them  and  promoting  the  good  of  others,  when  it  pleased 
an  all-wise  Providence  to  call  him  away  from  the  sphere  of  his  dis- 
interested and  valuable  labors  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  in  the  full 
vigor  of  his  large  intellectual  endowments." 


Note  IY.     (Page  435.) 
EGBERT      PROUD. 

For  the  following  poems  by  Robert  Proud,  we  are  indebted  to  our 
friend,  his  biographer,  the  Rev.  Charles  West  Thomson,  of  York, 
Pennsylvania.  From  the  tone  of  the  first  it  will  be  perceived  that, 
at  the  period  of  its  composition,  the  writer  sympathized  with  his 
native,  rather  than  his  adopted,  country. 

VOX  NATURE,  AN  ELEGY. 

"Nescio  qua  natale  solum  dulcedine  cunetos 
Ducit,  et  immemores  not  sinit  esse  sui." 


Natale  solum  loquitur. 


Distant  from  thy  country  far, 
On  the  banks  of  Delaware, 

Thou  dost  mourn ; 
Compass'd  round  by  rebel  foes, 
Worn  with  grief,  and  press" d  by  woes, 

0  return! 


APPENDIX.  487 

Thee,  ihj  native  soil  again 
Welcomes  from  beyond  the  main; 

Come  and  see, 
Once  again  before  thy  death, 
What  thy  native  country  hath 

Good  for  thee. 

Long,  too  long  in  troubles  tost, 
From  thy  friends  and  kindred  lost, 

Far  from  home ; 
To  relieve  thy  griefs  and  woes, 
All  thy  sorrows  to  compose, 

Hither  come. 

In  the  confines  of  these  bowers 
Pass  thy  yet  remaining  hours; 

Thou  shalt  have 
Here,  at  last,  upon  this  shore. 
Where  no  ill  shall  reach  thee  more, 

A  peaceful  grave. 

Peace  and  plenty  yet  awhile 
Thou  may'st  have  upon  this  isle, 

If  thou  flee 
From  the  idol  of  the  crowd. 
And  where  noise  and  strife  are  loud, 

Seldom  be. 

If  thy  intimates  be  few 

(A  few  chosen  friends  will  do). 

Thou  with  these. 
Far  from  rage,  revenge,  and  strife, 
May'st  enjoy  that  bliss  of  life 

Which  will  please. 

Long  enough,  and  oh !  too  long 
Troubles  thou  hast  been  among; 

From  the  bad. 
Of  the  wages  which  are  due 
Only  to  a  rebel  crew. 

Thou  hast  had! 

All  thy  friends  are  changed  or  gone. 
Thou  art  valued  now  by  none ; 

Robb'd  of  all 
By  the  infernal  powers  assign'd, 
■  There  to  punish  human  kind ! 

Thee  I  call. 


488  APPENDIX. 

What  hast  thou  to  do  with  those 
Who  embrace  rebellion's  cause? 

Come  away, 
There  to  live  is  death  to  thee, 
Worse  than  their's  thy  lot  shall  be, 

If  thou  atay. 

From  the  faithful  and  the  true, 
Separation,  why  dost  thou 

Longer  try  ? 
Here  on  earth,  while  power  is  given. 
In  an  order  nearer  Heaven, 

Live  and  die. 

Responsum. 

How  can  I  revisit  thee. 
And  my  native  country  see? 
Now  forgotten  and  unknown, 
Now  respected  there  by  none! 

How  can  I, 
After  absence  many  years, 
Now  repeat  my  former  cares. 
And  myself  again  expose 
To  new  trials  and  fresh  woes, 
.   Ere  I  die! 

Now  my  life  is  almost  done. 
Yet  awhile,  and  I  am  gone ; 
A  few  moments,  and  no  more 
I  am  on  this  mortal  shore. 

From  a  grave 
What  advantage  can  I  find. 
What  true  solace  to  the  mind. 
Whether  on  the  land  or  sea, 
Wheresoe'er  my  lot  may  be. 

Can  I  have? 

Yet  each  faithful  mind  must  grieve 
With  the  infernal  race  to  live ; 
And  among  the  virtuous,  I 
Would  not  only  live  but  die ; 

For  what  man, 
Tho'  of  everything  bereft, 
Tho'  no  earthly  solace  left, 
Here  with  rebel  powers  would  dwell, 
And  not  shun  the  state  of  hell. 

While  he  can ! 


APPENDIX.  489 

Hence  eternal  reason's  voice 
I  will  follow  in  my  choice  ; 
For,  as  happiness  alone 
By  obedience  first  was  known, 

But  was  lost 
By  rebellion,  so  no  more 
Shall  be  known,  upon  this  shore, 
That  true  glory,  peace,  and  joy. 
Which  did  former  days  employ. 

On  this  coast. 

Philadelphia,  Christmas  Day,  1782. 

A   PLAINTIVE   ESSAY, 

ATTEMPTED   BT   R.   P.   IN   6   MO.,    1781,   AFTER    SEVERAL    YEARS   OF   GREAT  DISTRESS,   DE- 
JECTION,   AND    TROUBLE    OF    MIND. 

Thou  universal  Cause,  unseen. 

Of  everything  that's  right. 
Oh !  Thou,  whose  ways  have  ever  been 

Most  lovely  in  my  sight ; 

As  in  the  days  which  I  have  spent, 

Shall  I  no  longer  be 
As  I  was,  when,  where'er  I  went. 

Thy  presence  went  with  me ! 

When  thro'  this  life,  as  thro'  a  night 

Of  mingled  joy  and  woe. 
Safe  by  Thy  light,  for  by  Thy  light 

I  did  with  pleasure  go; 

When  high  and  low,  when  old  and  young. 

Were  glad  my  friends  to  be ; 
When  all  degrees  and  every  tongue 

Paid  deference  to  me ; 

From  Thee,  I  knew,  I  did  receive 

The  favors  of  mankind. 
To  Thee,  'twas  all  I  could,  I  gave 

True  gratitude  of  mind. 

But  oh !  why  now  this  grievous  fall. 

Why  am  I  left  forlorn  ? 
Why  am  I  thus  deprived  of  all. 

Why  was  I  ever  born  ? 


490  ArPENDix. 

Withnnf,  of  cvorytliinr;  liorcft, 
Of  all  tlie  worl<l  c.ills  dear  ; 

Within,  no  consolation  left, 
No  tokens  of  Thy  care ! 

Oh !   had  Thy  light,  and  life  not  shone 
And  quickcn'd  human  kind. 

Darkness  and  death  had  not  been  known, 
Nor  felt,  within  the  mind! 

The  meanest  bred,  the  vilest  born. 

Insult  and  scoff  me  now ; 
They  who  have  known  me  long,  with  scorn 

Say,  spiteful,  "Who  art  thou?" 

Wliat  hath  his  love  of  learning  done, 
What  good  for  him,  they  cry ; 

The  thing  he  most  depended  on 
Is  nothing  but  a  lie ! 

Oh !  Thou,  who  knowest  all,  dost  know, 
E'en  from  my  early  youth, 

I  always  have  preferr'd,  till  now, 
Thy  visdom,  way,  aud  truth; 

My  early  thoughts,  my  constant  cares, 

Devoted  were  to  Thee; 
Oh!   why,  in  my  declining  years, 

Hast  Thou  forsaken  me ! 

Why  now  should  I  this  evil  know, 

And  yet  no  reason  find? 
A  burden  to  myself  to  grow, 

A  burden  to  mankind ! 

Despised  of  all,  and  trod  upon. 

Why  should  I  live  to  be, 
When  those  I  most  depended  on 

Have  all  forsaken  me? 

Secluded  and  impell'd,  as  when 

To  death  the  dying  are. 
From  all  the  cheerful  ways  of  men, 

To  perish  in  despair. 

Far  distant,  in  a  foreign  land. 

No  kind  assistance  nigh, 
To  Thee  I  make,  to  Thee  alone. 

My  solitary  cry ! 


APPENDIX.  491 

Where  death  and  darkness,  understood, 

Possess  the  human  mind, 
Kebellion,  wrath,  revenge,  and  blood, 

The  actions  of  mankind ! 

Permit  not  these  too  long  to  reign, 

And  over  me  aspire ; 
Oh!    suffer  not  the  worst  of  men 

To  trample  me  as  mire ! 

My  much  distress'd  mind  o'erspread, 

And  bring  to  life  again ; 
Which  long  has  been  among  the  dead, 

Among  the  mental  slain ! 

Let  not  my  life,  my  painful  days. 

Devoted  long  to  Thee, 
Thus  perish,  and  to  virtue's  ways 

Such  great  dishonor  be! 

Let  not  Thy  saving  Providence 

(In  every  trial  past 
Which  I  have  known  my  sure  defence) 

Abandon  me  at  last. 

Let  me  not  be  at  last  a  prey 

To  the  infernal  power ; 
My  mind  enliven  by  Thy  ray 

In  every  needful  hour. 

As  Thou  hast  been  my  morning  light. 

My  evening  glory  be  ; 
My  final  days,  with  most  delight, 

Let  me  rejoice  to  see; 

Let  me  rejoice,  whene'er  I  go 

Among  the  silent  dead. 
Thy  love.  Thy  life,  with  me  to  know. 

Thy  glory  on  my  head. 

In  reference  to  his  own  particular  situation  in  life,  and  also  to  the 
state  of  man  in  general,  he  has  sometimes  applied  the  following 
lines : 

Optima  quoeque  dies  miseris  mortalibus  cevi, 
Prima  fugit  suberunt  morbi  tristisque  senectus, 
Et  labor  et  durii3  rapit  inclcmentia  mortis. 


492  APPENDIX. 

Our  early  days  are  Itcst  Tmt  rjuickly  gone, 
Disease  with  pain  ami  sorrow  soon  come  on, 
Labor  and  care  soon  introduce  decay, 
And  death  resistless  hastens  all  away. 

And  has  also  observed  he  could  with  ])ropricty  apply  to  himself 
the  answer  of  the  patriarch  Jacob  to  I'haroah,  King  of  Egypt:  "Few 
and  evil  have  the  days  of  the  years  of  my  life  been,  and  have  not 
attained  to  the  days  of  the  years  of  the  life  of  my  fathers  in  the  days 
of  their  pilgrimage." 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
Advertisement  to  the  First  Edition,     ......  v 

Editorial  Note,       ....  vii 

Sketch  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,         .         .         .        ix 

Constitution  of  the  Society,  (1864,) xv 

do.  do.  do.  (old,) 13 

Officers  and  Standing  Committees,  ......     17 

Honorary  and  Corresponding  Members,        .....         21 

Circular,        ...........     23 

An  Inaugural  Discourse,  delivered  on  the  5th  of  November,  1825, 
before  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania.  By  William  Rawle, 
Esq.,  President  of  the  Society,    .......     29 

A  Memoir  on  the  Locality  of  the  Great  Treaty  between  William  Penn 

and  the  Indian  natives  in  1682.     By  Roberts  Vaux,         .         .     87 
Notes  on  the  Provincial  Literature  of  Pennsylvania.    By  THOMAS  I. 

Wharton,  Esq., 107 

A  Memoir  on  the  Controversy  between  William  Penn  and  Lord  Bal- 
timore, respecting  the  boundaries  of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland. 
By  James  Dunlop,  Esq.,  member  of  the  Senate  of  Pennsylvania.  163 
Original  Letters  of  William  f'enn,  with  his  Will  and  Codicil,  and 
papers  relating  to  them,      ........  205 

Papers  relative  to  the  Valedictory  Address  of  President  Washington,  239 
A  Vindication  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Heckewelder's  History  of  the  Indian 

Nations.     By  William  Rawle,  Esq., 268 

An  Account  of  the  First  Settlement  of  the  Townships  of  Bucking- 
ham and  Solebury,  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  with  Remarks 
on  the  State  of  Manners,  Remarkable  Occurrences,  &c.     By  Dr. 

John  Watson,  1804,        .        . 285 

(493) 


494  CONTENTS. 

A  Brief  Account  of  the  Discovery  of  Anthracite  Coal  on  the  Lehigh.    *^° 
By  TuoMAs  J).  James,  M.  1)., 321 

Some  Extracts  from  Papers  in  the  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Com- 
monwealth at  Harrisburgh,  and  from  other  Documents.  Transcribed 
by  Redmond  Conynoiiam,  Esq.,  of  Carlisle,      ....  333 

Contributions  to  the  Medical  History  of  Pennsylvania.  By  Caspar 
Morris,  M.  D 347 

Notices  of  Negro  Slavery,  as  connected  with  Pennsylvania.  By  Ed- 
ward Bettle, 365 

Notices  of  the  Life  and  Character  of  Robert  Proud,  Author  of  "  The 
History  of  Pennsylvania."    By  Charles  West  Thomson,  .  417 

Original  Letters  of  William  Penn, 437 

A  Biographical  Sketch  of  Sir  William  Keith,  one  of  the  former  Gov- 
ernors of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania.  By  a  Member  of  the 
Biographical  Committee, 451 

Members  of  the  Society  newly  elected, 465 

Appendix,   . 467 


LIST  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  NOTES  BY  THE  EDITOR. 


Pago 

Biographical  Sketcti  of  "William  Rawle,          .....  31 

Origin  of  the  name  of  Cape  Henlopen,       .....  195 

Extract  from  the  original  Book  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  Field  Notes,  200 

Copy  of  an  original  Will  of  William  Penn, 222 

Coal  tonnage  of  the  Lehigh  Region,            .....  329 

History  of  the  Act  of  1780,  for  the  Gradual  Abolishment  of  Slavery 

in  Pennsylvania,       .........  405 

Biographical  Sketch  of  George  Bryan,  author  of  the  Act  of  1780,  408 

Notices  of  the  early  Acts  of  Assembly  on  the  subject  of  Slaves,  .  415 
Notices  of  Sir  William  Keith,  Doctor  Graeme,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Fer- 

gusson,  &c 459 

List  of  Pilgrims  of  the  "  Welcome,"  (Appendix,)      .         .         .  467 

Biographical  Sketch  of  James  Dunlop,         "         .         .         .         .  471 

«                "            Edward  Bettle,        "     .         .         .        .  481 

Poems  by  Robert  Proud,         ..."....  486 


(495) 


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